The fox-themed zip-up cardigan worn by Ryan Gosling in Project Hail Mary has lit up social media.
Gosling stars in the the Amazon MGM Studios movie as Ryland Grace. His character is hardly debonair as he stands in one scene with arms outstretched alongside co-star Lionel Boyce while wearing a humble cardigan with a ribbed turned down knit collar, cuffs and hem.
He wears the same oatmeal cream color sweater in an another action scene with Sandra Hüller. But the simple cardigan and bold fox motifs sparked memes and viral interest online over the weekend on where to get the classic curling sweater.
“How much do you want Ryan Gosling’s cardigan in PROJECT HAIL MARY? Want it a lot like I do?” film writer and critic Tomris Laffly said on her X account as she pointed to a wolf cardigan knit kit on Mary Maxim exclusive yarn and crafts that quickly sold out.
“As a Canadian I clocked Ryan Gosling’s fox (wolf) sweater as a vintage Mary Maxim immediately, so it was fun to write about the meaning and history of the homespun cardigans,” Globe and Mail writer Nathalie Atkinson said on her own X account.
Turns out Gosling in Project Hail Mary, which is based on The Martian author Andy Weir’s 2022 novel of the same name and has the Hollywood star playing a schoolteacher sent light-years away on a mission to save humanity, was looking for comfort and warmth with his movie wardrobe all along.
“If you look at [Gosling’s character] Ryland Grace’s wardrobe, it’s a combination of these very specific things. Ryan had experiences with a fox, and he wanted to have a cardigan that had foxes on it. He wore science T-shirts based on the joke science T-shirts that my son wears. Everything is a personal [detail],” Chris Miller, director of Project Hail Mary along with Phil Lord, earlier told The Hollywood Reporter.
Gosling isn’t the only understated Canadian to prove when it comes to the down-to-earth zip up cardigan, it’s the attitude you bring to wearing classic clothing so basic and chunky that counts.
Hudson Williams, who plays Shane Hollander in the breakout gay hockey drama Heated Rivalry, had the iconic Team Canada zip-up fleece jacket he wore in one episode go viral on social media and spark a competition among fans of the show to see whose knock-off copy most impressed.
Heated Rivalry costume designer Hanna Puley designed the fleece jacket as a basic and cozy coat for Hollander’s understated character on the TV series. “I wanted to make something that felt wearable, something that felt comfortable, and something that would contrast with what Ilya was wearing,” Puley explained to THR.
So much so that Heated Rivalry producer Accent Aigu Entertainment struck a merchandise deal with the Province of Canada apparel company to produce the now-iconic fleece jacket for purchase, initially in Canada.
And Cynthia Erivo brought her own Hollywood vibe to the wool “sex cardigan” she wore as Elphaba in Wicked: For Good during a love scene with Fiyero, played by Jonathan Bailey. “It came out of very literally an organic decision of what does Elphaba have access to? And living alone, what choice would she make when she’s looking for a robe, some way to be protective and warm? … It’s operating as her robe for that moment,” Wicked costume designer Paul Tazewell told NPR of the costume design choice.