Ryan Gosling is boldly going where he has never gone before: into a leading role in the action-packed true story of Neil Armstrong and NASA’s mission to land a man on the moon. But being the first man on the moon (even if only in the movie) isn’t without its risks, something Gosling found out firsthand.
When talking about his latest project, First Man, on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Gosling offered some insight into the movie magic that created the illusion that he was hurtling haphazardly through space. In order to recreate the feelings experienced by Armstrong and his team during one of the most dangerous missions in history, Gosling was strapped into a multi-access training device which was originally designed to help real-life astronauts prepare for worst case scenarios when they’re miles above the Earth’s atmosphere.
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The device, according to the actor, sends you “ass over tea kettle,” and is normally only used for 20 minutes at a time, which makes sense since it sounds like something that could make you pretty dizzy. Gosling was about to find out why even professional astronauts stuck to the time limit. Sometimes in order to achieve movie magic, filmmakers have to stretch their limits which can involve putting themselves into uncomfortable situations for long periods of time. “We had to get a lot of shots. I was in it for six to eight hours,” Gosling shared.
After a long day of shooting, Gosling felt like something was a little off. He knew something was wrong, so he called his partner Eva Mendes to talk about it. “I was hellbent on this idea that there were people in donut stores all around the world trying to charm their way into getting free donuts,” Gosling explained to Kimmel. After a last minute trip to the hospital, Gosling discovered he had a minor concussion from his hours of simulated space travel.
Turns out, there are real risks when traveling to space, even if it’s just for a movie.
First Man hits theaters on October 11. See the trailer below.