Lord and Miller: Cinema's Hottest Duo on Gosling, Spielberg, and Star Wars
From directing The Lego Movie to becoming a single creative entity, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have experienced a remarkable ascent in Hollywood. Now, with their latest film Project Hail Mary, they are sending one of the world's best actors, Ryan Gosling, on a cosmic doom mission, aiming for the stars in their distinctive film-making style.
The DGA Hearing and Early Challenges
When Lord and Miller were starting out, long before their success with franchises like Spider-Verse and Jump Street, they faced a formidable challenge at the Directors Guild of America. The DGA, preferring "one set of hands on the steering wheel," was uneasy about crediting them as co-directors. To gain approval, they had to plead their case to a panel of famous peers, including Steven Spielberg and Jon Favreau.
"It was like a Senate hearing," Miller recalls, his eyes widening. "Steven Spielberg and Jon Favreau asked questions like: 'All right, but what happens if one of you gets sick? What are you gonna do?' It was ... interesting." Fortunately, the verdict ruled in their favour, a decision that seems inevitable given their seamless partnership today.
A Unique Partnership and Creative Mind-Meld
Meeting Lord and Miller in a London hotel suite, it's clear they operate on a shared wavelength. They don't just finish each other's sentences; they finish each other's ideas, a mind-meld forged when they met as undergraduates at Dartmouth College. Lord, from Miami, and Miller, from near Seattle, have become inseparable, often confusing others with their similar dynamic.
"It's nice having a person with you in the foxhole," Miller says. "Whatever is coming down the pipe, you can look at each other and, if you both think it, then you're like: OK, I feel confident in my point of view." This partnership translates into a film-making style full of surreal humour, wild tonal shifts, and dizzying visual invention, evident in projects from The Lego Movie to the Spider-Verse films.
Project Hail Mary: A Deep-Space Adventure
Their latest film, Project Hail Mary, is a big swing: a deep-space adventure adapted from Andy Weir's hard science novel. It stars Ryan Gosling as Dr Ryland Grace, a high school science teacher who wakes up as the sole survivor on a spaceship in a distant galaxy, tasked with stopping a parasitic microbe from blotting out the sun. The film mixes elements of The Martian and Close Encounters of the Third Kind with Lord and Miller's unique formula.
After optioning the rights, Gosling sought out the duo, sending them the script by Drew Goddard. "The short answer is: no. That's not common," laughs Lord about receiving scripts from A-list actors. Miller adds, "But we had known Ryan for over a decade. We'd occasionally have breakfast with him and talk about working together someday, so he made it happen." Once they read the script, it was an easy yes, with Miller praising Gosling's "big, old-school movie star stuff" akin to Tom Hanks or Jimmy Stewart.
Collaboration and Utopian Messages
In Project Hail Mary, Gosling's character forms a genuine bond with an alien named Rocky, despite communication barriers. Lord notes that Gosling's "great magic trick" is elevating other characters, while Miller highlights the film's theme of "communication and empathy" solving impossible problems. This utopian message, smuggled into mass entertainment, feels almost revolutionary in today's divisive climate.
The spirit of collaboration extended behind the scenes, with VFX teams and puppeteers working together to create Rocky. Lord and Miller contrast this with artificial intelligence, which Miller says can only "regurgitate the average of things that have come before it." They embrace happy accidents, like Gosling's jumper tribute to a fox or Sandra Hüller's impromptu karaoke scene, which AI could never replicate.
Setbacks and Resilience
Lord and Miller have faced significant setbacks, including being sacked from the Star Wars prequel Solo over creative differences. "It can happen anywhere. It can happen to anybody," Miller says. Lord adds, "Talk to any film-makers who are a generation ahead of us – they all have war stories." They follow a sports credo: winning or learning. "You get to be like: OK, I got some reps in. And now, on the next one, I'm going to bring that knowledge with me," Miller explains.
Other failures, like the cancellation of their MTV show Clone High due to controversy over a Gandhi character, taught them valuable lessons. Despite these challenges, their partnership has helped them bounce back stronger. "It becomes a chip on your shoulder that makes you play, aggressively," Lord says with a hint of steeliness.
Looking Ahead
With Project Hail Mary now in UK cinemas, Lord and Miller continue to push boundaries in Hollywood. Their journey from DGA scrutiny to directing major stars underscores their resilience and innovative spirit. As they navigate the industry's ups and downs, their partnership remains a cornerstone of their success, proving that collaboration can indeed reach for the stars.
