First Photos of Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong in The Moon Landing Film FIRST MAN
The director behind Whiplash and La La Land, Damien Chazelle, is in the process of helming his exciting next film project, First Man. The movie tells the story of NASA sending a small team of men to the moon. Thanks to People, we have our first official photos from the film featuring Ryan Gosling in the role of Neil Armstrong, who as you know, is the first man to walk on the moon.
When talking about the kind of man that Neil Armstrong was, he explains that he was never looking for attention for his accomplishments.
"Neil was not a showy person. A lot of the other astronauts and pilots of that era were what you expect, the outgoing, hotshot types, but Neil was very different. He was the brainier, quieter, more introverted person and he’s a man of few words who did the job and got it done. I see a little bit of Ryan in that as well and I think Ryan was able to capture it beautifully."
The director goes on to talk about what it is that fascinated him about the Armstrong saying:
"What fascinated me about Neil Armstrong is that he is kind of a mystery. For someone that accomplished something that is among one of the most famous things that anyone has ever accomplished, the human himself is a little bit of an enigma."
As you'd expect, this movie is going to focus on those things that make Armstrong so interesting as a person. So, while they will be telling the harrowing story of sending man to the moon, Chazelle still want to keep the film intimate and focuses on the characters.
"Ryan and I described the movie to each other as it’s about the moon and the kitchen, which means basically we wanted to tell the story about one of the most epic accomplishments in human history, but root it very much in the intimate and the day to day details of what it was actually like. What did it feel like to be Neil or Janet at that moment in time and going through these truly superhuman kind of events."
I actually saw some footage from the film already at CinamaCon and I loved what the studio shared! Chazelle is a great filmmaker and it looks like his next film is going to be pretty incredible.
First Man is based on James Hansen’s biography First Man: A Life Of Neil A. Armstrong, the story of NASA’s mission to land a man on the moon, focusing on Neil Armstrong and the years 1961-1969. Described as “a visceral, first-person account,” the movie aims to explore the sacrifices and the cost—on Armstrong and on the nation—of one of the most dangerous missions in history.
The Crown star Claire Foy is playing Neil's wife Janet and the rest of the cast includes Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll, Jon Bernthal, Jason Clarke and Ethan Embry.
First Man will open in theaters October 12, 2018. I imagine that we'll see a trailer released for the film soon.