Ryan Gosling didn’t need to imagine how he’d interact with a friendly alien.
Instead, his daughters Esmeralda, 11, and Amada, 9, helped him set the scene. Indeed, the Project Hail Mary star admitted his kids—who he shares with wife Eva Mendes—would occasionally portray the upcoming space movie’s main extraterrestrial character to help him float through the scenes.
“I had an earpiece in my ear and they would talk for Rocky, so I could talk to them as Rocky,” Ryan, 45, told People in an interview published Mar. 3. “There’s some moments in the movie where I’m laughing or I’m just so charmed by him, [but] it’s actually my kids talking to me and helping me out.”
Despite their assistance, his daughter’s names may not appear in Project Hail Mary’s end credits. After all, Rocky—who meets Ryan’s character Ryland, a science teacher that’s sent into outer space to save mankind—is voiced by James Ortiz in the actual film, which will release on March 20.
But that wasn’t the end of Esmeralda and Amada’s involvement in the movie. In terms of fashion, they also helped Ryan feel comfortable in his role’s academia-inspired outfits—all the way down to the small accessories.