Ryan Gosling's Project Hail Mary shot at Hertfordshire school

Ryan Gosling filmed his new film in Hemel Hempstead <i>(Image: Dacorum Borough Council)</i>
Ryan Gosling filmed his new film in Hemel Hempstead (Image: Dacorum Borough Council)
This article is brought to you by our exclusive subscriber partnership with our sister title USA Today, and has been written by our American colleagues. It does not necessarily reflect the view of The Herald.

Scenes for a new film starring Ryan Gosling were shot in Hertfordshire.

The Hemel Hempstead School was used for scenes in Project Hail Mary, which is released in the UK today (March 21) and tells the story of a science teacher who , who wakes up alone on a spaceship light-years from Earth with no memory of how he got there.

The school's headteacher Neil Hassell said: "Having this production film at Hemel Hempstead School was a great privilege and huge opportunity for us.

Filming for Project Hail Mary took place in Hemel Hempstead (Image: Dacorum Borough Council)

"The film crew ironically transformed our art classrooms into science labs, for the scenes at the high school, and an area used by our students at lunch was turned into the scene where the lead character (Gosling) is first approached by the government.

"Several school offices were also used, plus a lot of set dressing - we had palm trees, US school buses, and a whole fleet of US Government SUVs on site! It created a lot of excitement here."

The Hemel Hempstead School was used for filmin (Image: Dacorum Borough Council)

Filming took place back in the summer of 2024 and was organised by the Dacorum Film Office, who assisted with facilitating nearby parking and unit base for the film crew and liaised with residents and businesses while the road closures were in place.

Get involved
with the news

Send your news & photos