Ryan Goslingmight be the most popular actor in Hollywood right now, courtesy of a flawless run of performances, which have included as Colt Seavers in the underrated The Fall Guy and as Ken in Barbie, for which he earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Academy Awards. But his best performance this decade arrived earlier this year in the new sci-fi masterpiece, Project Hail Mary. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the film has become perhaps the defining film of 2026 so far, and earned almost $700 million at the global box office.
Since its exit from the theatrical circuit, Project Hail Mary has already become a streaming hit, recently scoring the top spot on the global iTunes movie charts. Gosling earned enormous acclaim for his performance as Dr. Ryland Grace in the sci-fi epic, and some are even touting him for an Oscars nomination come early next year. Even though he’s a former nominee, Gosling’s best-ever performance wasn’t recognized by the Academy, and you are about to be able to watch it for free.
The film in question came in Lars and the Real Girl, a low-budget, indie-style comedy that transforms into a profound reminder of the importance of community. A painfully overlooked quirky gem, Lars and the Real Girl did earn some recognition from the Academy back in 2008, nominated in the Best Adapted Screenplay category, although it sadly missed out on the prize to Juno. Starting July 1, you can watch Lars and the Real Girl for free on Plex, where it joins many other acclaimed gems in the streamer’s catalog.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like? Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky
Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🏜️Paul Atreides
🖖Capt. Kirk
✊Princess Leia
🔦Ellen Ripley
🔥Max Rockatansky
01
How do you lead when the stakes couldn’t be higher? The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.
02
What is your greatest strength in a crisis? The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.
03
What is the thing you’d sacrifice everything else for? Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.
04
How do you relate to the people around you? Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.
05
You’re facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do? How you respond when you’re the only one who sees it defines everything.
06
What has your heroism cost you personally? Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they’d pay it again.
07
How do you feel about the rules of the world you’re in? Every hero has a relationship with the system. What’s yours?
08
When everything is on the line, what keeps you going? The answer is the most honest thing about you.
Your Hero Has Been Identified Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…
Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.
Arrakis · Dune
Paul Atreides
You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you’re capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.
You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn’t ask for but can’t escape.
Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won’t, is exactly you.
USS Enterprise · Star Trek
Captain Kirk
You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you’ve always believed there’s a third option nobody else has thought of yet.
You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you’ve earned it.
Kirk’s genius isn’t tactical — it’s human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.
The Rebellion · Star Wars
Princess Leia
You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you’re fearless, but because giving up simply isn’t something you’re capable of.
You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you’ve never looked back.
Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.
The Nostromo · Alien
Ellen Ripley
You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone’s hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.
You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
Ripley’s heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn’t have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn’t there.
When it counts, you don’t flinch. That’s everything.
The Wasteland · Mad Max
Max Rockatansky
You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.
You don’t ask for help, don’t need validation, and don’t wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it’s earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.
Ryan Gosling Is Bringing Another Sci-Fi Epic to the Screen
Ryan Gosling as Lars sitting next to Bianca, the doll, in Lars and the Real Girl.Image via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
After defining sci-fi in 2026, Gosling will take on the genre’s biggest franchise in 2027. In Star Wars: Starfighter, which takes place five years after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Gosling will headline, supported by a star-studded cast that includes Flynn Gray, Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, Simon Bird, Jamael Westman, Daniel Ings, and Amy Adams. Although little is known about the film, Gosling is promising something memorable, telling Collider: “It’s such a great story on its own, and the characters are amazing. The journey is epic.”
Lars and the Real Girl will be available to stream on Plex next month. Make sure to stay tuned to Collider for more streaming stories.
