“Project Hail Mary,” the expansive new sci-fi movie about a compassionate, courageous teacher who must go on a mission to save humanity, is helping teach Hollywood what may be a new path forward. Based on the novel of the same name by Andy Weir, co-directed by Washington filmmaker Christopher Miller and starring Ryan Gosling, it’s been hailed as being part of a welcome winning streak for originality at the movies, boasting not just rave reviews but an impressive box-office haul as it blasted off with a $80.5 million opening weekend. It also represents a heartfelt tribute to not just teachers, but one legendary Seattle educator in particular: Lakeside School math teacher Tom Rona.
As eagle-eyed viewers on social media spotted, there is a unique drawing of what appears to be an inflated canine — likely quite familiar to Lakeside students — seen on a whiteboard behind teacher Ryland Grace (Gosling) in an early critical scene. This drawing was subsequently confirmed by Miller as being a direct reference to Rona, whom he called “a real inspiration” to not just him, but his childhood friend and producing partner Aditya Sood, who also attended Lakeside when the two of them were growing up in Seattle decades ago.
Miller said Rona had ”made a funny book of math problems starring a character named Balloon Dog” and including this detail in the film “was a tiny way to honor him and inspiring teachers everywhere.” The film may launch audiences into the far reaches of space, but its director might not have taken us there if not for the teachings he received down here on Earth.
In an interview over the weekend, Rona, who spent 47 years teaching at the school, said he was entirely unaware “Project Hail Mary” contained a reference to him and was planning to go see the movie for himself after previously loving “The Martian,” another adaptation of a novel by Weir that Sood produced. It was only when he was sent a copy of Miller’s social media post that he learned about the drawing, but he said it “warms his heart” to see both Miller and Sood be so successful in their work as he remembered them both as being “great kids” in his class.
“They were funny and smart and very, very eager to learn,” Rona said, recounting how he had initially made Balloon Dog as part of a way to get kids excited about learning. “That’s really one of the most fun things about teaching is when kids really want to learn.”
Rona said that the duo had already been known for their fascination with making movies when they were students and that he was glad to see he had left an impact on them that was now reflected in their work. However, while he is the creator of Balloon Dog, he said he didn’t see the reference as being solely about him, but about the care all teachers bring to their work.
“I’d like to think of it as a reference not so much to me, but to a thing that worked for them when they were kids and the fun feeling that was developed about learning and math. It’s a testament to what teachers do, which is find ways to draw their kids into something fun and pay attention to the learning,” Rona said. “The funny thing about it is I really enjoyed drawing them myself. Kids used to come up and say, ‘OK, how do you draw that thing?’ I’d teach them how to draw it and they would draw it on the board. Even after all these years, when I go to Lakeside, I’ll see, off in the corner, a drawing of Balloon Dog. It’s sweet to see that this replicated over time even without me being there.”
Rona hasn’t taught in the classroom for a couple of years now, but don’t call him retired. He still helps make the schedule for the school and maintains a math exercise website for students to use where Balloon Dog lives on. Much like Ryland, Rona is humble when speaking about himself and the impact he had on kids, like Miller and Sood, highlighting how it was the environment at Lakeside that provided a welcoming place for all students to learn. He said it was nice to be remembered as part of this and that he’ll watch anything Miller and Sood do going forward. Like a proud teacher, he praised Miller not just as a student he once taught, but as a filmmaker who is thoughtful about his craft.
“He’s a funny guy and he’s also deep,” Rona said. “If you listen to him, you see a guy who takes filmmaking seriously as something to not just entertain, but reach for something deeper. If those guys remember my class and me as something that was valuable and fun and memorable, of course that’s very gratifying for me personally. But it’s not unique to me. … Anybody you talk to, if you ask them, ‘Hey, who is a teacher you remember that was meaningful to you, that was influential to you?’ nearly everybody can think of somebody.”
Rona said, while he doesn’t think Gosling is meant to resemble him, he’s glad to see a film that celebrates teachers. As he sees it, they are the people who, often for what may be the first time in a student’s life, open their eyes to all that’s possible in the world and what they’re capable of. They might not all be able to save the planet as Ryland attempts to in “Project Hail Mary,” but they can change the life of each student who passes through their class and ventures out into the world.
“I remember being the youngest person on the faculty and I also remember, at the end, being the only one left who was there when I started,” Rona recalled. “So it’s been a long cycle, but, in each case, there were people here who changed my life. … I’d like to think I did for others, too.”
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