About “Project Hail Mary” in a few words:

Project Hail Mary is a sci-fi story based on Andy Weir’s novel, following Ryland Grace, a teacher-turned-astronaut who wakes up alone on a spaceship with no memory of how he got there. As pieces come back, he realizes he’s on a desperate mission to save Earth from a cosmic threat. Along the way, he faces impossible odds, hard choices, and one very unexpected ally.

Meet the characters from Project Hail Mary

Ryland Grace

Okay, Ryland is that exhausted-but-brilliant science teacher-turned-astronaut who somehow manages to be both wildly competent and adorably scatterbrained, like he’ll solve a stellar physics problem and then forget where he put his coffee for an hour. He’s curious to a fault, stubborn as a mule, and has this very human, flailing optimism that makes you root for him even when his memory is doing backflips — also he apparently talks to himself a lot? He’s the sort of person who writes frantic lists and then ignores half of them because a new hypothesis popped into his head; chaotic good, basically. And honestly, he’s got this lovable underdog vibe that’s equal parts nerdy professor and reluctant hero, which is why everyone kind of forgives him for the weird jokes.

Eva Stratt

Eva is the iron-willed, no-nonsense administrator who runs things like a chess grandmaster who also sleeps with a clipboard under her pillow — she is famously efficient and slightly terrifying, in the best authoritarian-heroine way. She can be cold on the surface but there’s this weirdly tender spot where she keeps a secret collection of bureaucratic memos? (I might be making that up, but it feels right.) She makes impossible decisions with a calm stare and has zero patience for nonsense, yet every now and then you catch her humming in the halls like she’s a tiny bit neurotic about classical music. Basically, she’s the person you want in a crisis and the person you’re terrified to argue with at a planning meeting.

Rocky

Rocky is the absolute best — literally an alien engineer made of weird geology and pure work ethic, who communicates in a way that feels like percussion and friendship rolled into one. He’s endlessly practical, obsessed with construction and problem-solving, and somehow also the most emotionally straightforward buddy you could ask for; no games, just honest hammers and feelings. He hates wasting time, loves a good structural diagram, and has this habit of fixing things by bashing them in a politely effective manner — which is both terrifying and comforting. Also, fun fact: he probably would make a great barista if he had thumbs, but also would refuse to wear an apron because it messes with his rock-grooves.

Carl

Carl is that quietly steady teammate who seems small in the background until you realize he’s the weirdly sharp linchpin of everything — think reliable, low-key clever, borderline dad-joke energy but with a PhD. He’s patient, a little sardonic, and definitely the person who remembers everyone’s emergency candy stash (and will hand it out like it’s a motivational tool). He tends to balance out more dramatic personalities by being resolutely normal in slightly bizarre ways, like keeping a plant on the console even though he swears it’s “for science” and also sometimes names it after obscure comic-book characters. Honestly, he gives good advice, loses badly at poker, and is the kind of friend you’d want on a mission and at a backyard barbecue.