British actor of Indian descent Priya Kansara broke out with Nida Manzoor’s much-loved Polite Society (2023) before appearing in Bridgerton 2 (2022). Recently, she stepped into the big-ticket Hollywood film with Project Hail Mary, voicing Mary, the vessel’s onboard AI in the Ryan Gosling-starrer. For Kansara, the decision wasn’t driven by scale alone.

“I didn’t know about it when I got the call,” she admits. “My agent asked, ‘How do you feel about Ryan Gosling?’ I felt this is an interesting call.” The setup was unusual — she performed her voice live on set. “Directors Phil [Lord] and Christopher [Miller] wanted me to come to set and lend my voice live for Ryan so that he had somebody to play against. For me, it was a masterclass, an opportunity to learn from people I’ve long admired.”