New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce - Final Four Picks & Ryan Gosling on Project Hail Mary, Diva Puppets & Being a Liability at DB | Ep 183

Episode Date: March 18, 2026

92%ers, welcome to another episode of New Heights brought to you with limited interruption by REESE’S! First, Jason and Travis share their thoughts on the Oscars, Jason’s “bullshit” during a golf competition, and we fill out our March Madness Brackets. It goes great having watched very little college basketball this season! And Ryan Gosling joins the show! We tell him how much we enjoyed Project Hail Mary, get his POV on working with a puppet with an entourage, his thoughts on aliens, why he’s never going to space, and what he’s doing next in a galaxy far, far away. He also shares some incredible Harrison Ford stories, discovers he’s the face of Taco Bell inflation, and so much more! Check out Project Hail Mary: https://www.mgm.com/movies/project-hail-maryYou can pre-order “No Dumb Questions” now at http://kelceclubhouse.com or http://hc.com. To claim your stickers. After you pre-order, head to this link: http://hc.com/nodumbquestions and submit your proof of purchase. You can participate in the New Heights x Reese’s March Madness Bracket Challenge with the links below: Men's Bracket Link: https://bit.ly/NHMensBracket26Women’s Bracket: https://bit.ly/NHWomensBracket26Check out all of our new merch at https://amzlink.to/az0JVda6JMjOr Watch and listen to new episodes of New Heights every Wednesday during the NFL season and follow us on Social Media for all the best moments from the show: https://lnk.to/newheightshowYou can also listen to new episodes on Wondery, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. ...Download the full podcast here:Wondery: https://wondery.app.link/s9hHTgtXpMbApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-heights/id1643745036Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1y3SUbFMUSESC1N43tBleK?si=LsuQ4a5MRN6wGMcfVcuynwSend something to the New Heights Mailbox. Don’t be weird though. C/O New Heights Productions135 E OLIVE AVE, BURBANK, CA 91502Support the show: REESE’S: Turn your busted bracket into your shot at REESE’S and more! Post your busted bracket, tag @reeses on Instagram, X, or TikTok, and use hashtag #ForAReesesSweeps for a chance to score free REESE’S and a shot to enjoy those REESE’S at the men’s or women’s Final Four AND Championship Games. Learn more: https://everybracketbustsforareeses.com/pages/official-rulesNO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open only to legal residents of the 48 US and DC, 18 years or older. Void in AK, HI & where prohibited by law. Starts 3/19/26 and ends 3/27/26. Includes daily entry periods. See Official Rules at seerules.com/reesesmarchmadness for how to enter, prize details, odds, and restrictions. Sponsor: The Hershey Company. Official New Heights x REESE’S Bracket Challenge Rules: https://bit.ly/NHMMContestRulesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The fact that you guys would have me knowing I'm a liability at the corner is to say. It means a lot to me. Honestly, it like legitimizes that. We're all about team play. Yeah, we're team. That was a team move. Thank you. You and Charlie Conway, the only guys that have pulled themselves out.

The team would get better. Welcome back to New Heights, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages. A Wondry show brought to you. by Reese's and today we've partnered exclusively with Reese's to bring you this episode with limited interruptions. That's right.

Set out the Reese's. You guys can get us without as many ads. All right, we're your host. I'm Travis Kells. It's my big brother, Jason Kelsey. Subscribe on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast. And follow the show on all social media. I had a new Hight Show with 1S.

This is a part of the beginning where Jason now tells you what we have from. Well, 92% says. We've got another great episode. As always, we're going to get a show. into March Madness coming up here. Who doesn't love a little bit of Bracketology. We also have Ryan Gosling here.

What? Let's get right into it with a little bit of that new news. New news. Shout out to friend of the show, Conan O'Brien. He absolutely crushed the Oscars. Hopefully all of you out there listening, watched it. Did not disappoint. It's proof that it didn't disappoint by Disney saying after the Oscars,

hey, you can do this. You have a free invite to host the Oscars in perpetuity of ABC pretty much having the Oscars. Nice. He's pretty much proven he is the best Oscars host of all time. All timer, man. Yeah. Did you have any Oscar underdogs that won, hot takes from it, anything that you took away from it?

No, I just love how Conan and the team brought a full circle there at the end. And Conan went into a room, like, as did, like Sean Penn did in one battle after another, and they offed him. I thought, I thought that was fucking absolutely hilarious. Bravo to the entire Oscar nominees. That was a fun one to kind of be a part of. And we'll be a part of meaning I was like sitting there watching it. Absolutely.

Yeah, I mean, I did what I always do. I mean, first of all, I love the show and the spectacle of the Oscars and what Conan did as a host. But then I also learned about a bunch of films that I kind of didn't really know about or hadn't seen yet. And then you get to go watch these amazing films that you just are, for whatever reason, weren't plugged into at the time. Now, we were plugged into a lot of the big time feature films. It's pretty cool to kind of be a part of some of these. There was like a short film that was up for, I think it won, the best animated short film. The Girl That Cries Pearls is awesome.

Awesome little like puppet movie. I shouldn't say it like that. It kind of like sounds like it was shitty. It's awesome little puppet movie. It was like incredibly artistic and just so well done. So I'm going to keep catching up on all these movies that I haven't seen. and then again, Conan, he just like, he'll say the dumbest thing, and I just think it's the funniest thing on the planet.

We're also dropping and out of the house from our time at TGL next Monday to 23rd. Nice. They let us get on the simulator, so we had a little competition. We'll see how that goes. Oh, it's such bullshit. I'm calling bullshit right now. I mean, listen, it happened. That's all I know.

Yeah, yeah, you did. Fucking, I blame all you guys. nobody fucking said we were doing a New Heights one. I'm blaming Brandon. I'm blaming everybody. We discussed it, Travis. It was in email. You didn't get the email?

The email. You didn't open the New Heights email? No, no, I'm not a big email guy. You know that. I haven't checked that in years. Well, it is the first time I've ever been competitive with my brother in golf. And I was not. I wasn't competitive.

We're not going to try and ruin what happened in the episode. You guys are going to want to tune in. It is fun. Let's see if anyone can guess how many beers I actually had before I just won in that competition. But yeah, make sure you subscribe on the YouTube channel so you don't miss that. And our book is finally coming out. No Dumb Questions drops June 2nd. 92% of you can pre-order from anywhere now and get an exclusive sticker pack.

Who doesn't love stickers, man? Come on, now. Pre-order a copy of No Dumb Questions for many retailer. And you'll score this awesome sticker pack. Jason, you want to hold that up? Because I do not have it. I do not have the sticker pack. There it is, Brandon, right on time.

I do have the sticker pack. I check my mail. Sticker. The sticker pack is up there. Exclusive. Big thing about the Kelsey's, whether it's email or Gmail or Gmail or regular mail, we're not checking it. It's pretty much text message at the right time.

And those don't always get it. It's a miracle this show happens ever. Dope sticker back, though, love the neon. Very St. Patrick's Day friendly, by the way, which it is, of course, today. Hey, oh, happy St. Patty's Day. You're going to have some Bruselowski's, some Guinnesses. You're going to have some. feel like I have to. I mean, listen, it's not like I used to do with the Aaron Express here in Philadelphia

or drinking a bottle of Jameson at practice when we were in college. I have moved on to a different phase, but yeah, I'm going to probably try and have a Guinness at some point today. I see you rocking your green already. Maybe a garage lime, a green beer. I should have wore my green today. The day is an overtrav. St. Patty's Day is just celebrating the Irish culture, right? Technically, it's celebrating St. Patrick, the patron saint who eradicated snakes from Ireland, among other things, of which I'm not entirely sure. Should we do like a little brief St. Patrick's Day? Like Wikipedia? No, probably not. You can pre-order now at Kelsey Clubhouse.com. Shout out to the Clubhouse or wherever you get your books. Wherever you buy books, you can go and pre-order it there. We'll put instructions

to claim your stickers in the episode description below. All right. And that does it for new news. And before we gets our incredible guest. March Madness starts this week, and we're running back. It does. The New Heights, Times Reese's Brackett Challenge. Brackets came out Sunday, so it's time for some picks. Are we ready to reveal our final fours? Come on, Trave, let's go. Who's in it? Right now. No, don't even look. Don't even look. No research. Don't look. All right. Top four teams. Off the dome. Haven't watched or heard a single thing about college basketball this year. This is so much better than any other way to do this. This is so great.

Where are you going? Where are you going? I'm going to go with obvious, well-known teams that everybody knows are going to be within those top four. Man, some of these guys that I used to be able to go to just, they're not there anyway. I'm going to go Michigan State. I'm going to go Michigan State. Pretty sure they're in it.

They should be in it. Okay. I am wearing green, though. That might have played a factor into it. I will go. There's a Michigan State green, too. I'm going to go Duke. I'm going to go Duke.

I know they lost Cooper flag last year, but I mean, they're kind of always good. I'll go do. As much as I hate. I like the Houston coach. I like the, they usually play hard. Have no idea if they're any good this year, but I'm going to go Houston. Okay. They're in it.

I'm going strictly with like coaches that I know are dogs. And I'm trying to think of like one other. That's the only reason I went iso and the guy from Breaking Bad down there in Houston. You're missing one other conference, one other top tier conference. I'm not going by conferences. I'm going by coaches. I'm just letting you know where you're at right now. Rick Patino is who I want to go with.

I don't even know the name of the school that he's at, but I know that they play fucking hard. So I'm in. That's my final four. That was fun. The only issue with your final four is that Michigan State and Duke, I believe meet in the elite eight. Okay.

So I need somebody else in a different side of the bracket. Yeah. What are my rankings of the teams that I just picked? You got a Duke's a one, Michigan State's a three, Houston's a two. And St. John's I'm trying to find. St. John's, sorry.

St. John's is also in the east, so three of your picks are in the same region. Oh, yeah, you're right. There's St. John's. They're a five. Minor detail, minor detail. There are five. Yeah, Duke is St. John's a five. Yeah, they play in this week 16.

I'm going to put Duke. Well, I got to see the bracket, guys. I haven't looked at this. This is our bracket. This is going very smoothly. There are five. So that means they're in the south side of the bracket. Yeah.

And what's Michigan's? State, Michigan State, it's a three. I pulled it up. Three? Yeah. Oh, here we go. So you need somebody out of the west and the Midwest. What?

No, he needs an east, south, west midway. He needs. No, he's got Houston. All right, yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, he's got Houston, my bad. We're tracking. We're tracking. All right.

Who are you feeling out of the west? Okay, Arizona, the villain. I, I mean. Come on, throw a dart. Haven't, I know. I'm looking. Right there, brother. I'm not picking.

Texas. Come on. I'd take Cincinnati for you, but that's right. I can't say Purdue. I mean, I love the fact that they're a two-seat. I just... Every year, though, right? Yeah.

Every year. I know. Let's just, let's go up. I'm tempted to go with the five. I just always love picking Wisconsin in the brackets. I don't know why. I mean, I'm going to go Arizona. I'm not a...

Nobody else is really standing out. I'm going Arizona. Put Arizona in that final four. By the way, I've watched none of these teams play. That has never stopped anybody from winning their bracket challenge. High point. Fair enough. Okay, now we need somebody out of the Midwest.

What's up? Have her pick. What's up? Do you want to pick a team? Huh? Do you want to pick a bracket for Dad? Yeah. All right.

Okay. Who do you think would win in a fight? This is how Dad usually does it. All right. Do you... Do you think A Wolverine or a, I don't even know what Howard's mascot is.

What's Howard's mascot? Is it a blue devil? What is it? Bison. A bison or a wolverine would win in a fight. Bison. Bison, okay, we'll pick Howard. Bisons are bigger.

It's not going to be a loser, but we're going to pick it. It's a good choice, girlie. All righty. Do we think a bulldog or a, a man of the cloth would win in a fight. Yeah, you're right. Bulldog, we'll go Georgia. All right, do we think that a cowboy or a bunny would win in a fight?

What? What do you need some? Akron's kangaroos, right? Rooze. Okay. Okay. She needs help immediately? Yeah.

Okay. I don't know that I can do that. We'll just throw a dart at the board. here. All right. I have to go, I have to go assist. We're having some issues here.

Sure. I know. I'm coming. I'm coming. You want to say Iowa State? Do your thing. Yeah. At this point, yeah.

We can finish this letter. We're not going anywhere. All right. Okay. We're going to take a small intermission. We're going to put an ad right here. All right. Thank you to our presenting sponsor, Reces.

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Not going to lie, eating a Reese's at a Final Four game sounds. I don't know if there's anything sounds better than that sounds fucking awesome. All right. So so far, I've picked three teams in one side of the bracket, unfortunately, so I have to pick. So I have Houston, though.

We've reassessed. Now it's Houston, Arizona. I have, what's good on? Duke of Michigan State. No, no. I want Houston, right?

They're in the South. Oh, so Houston was already in its own. Houston's good. Houston was your correct final. four pick yeah Duke or Michigan State I just I never I know I should put Duke but I never pick Duke because I kind of like feels wrong I don't know

yeah I don't know what like I like coach K and everything that they've done but I know pick against him it's just it's a little bit too much like it's just a little too preppy Michigan State yeah okay all right all right you have Arizona for sure knowing nothing for knowing nothing Arizona for sure and then um one more out of the Midwest some landmines in this one though I should not have gotten rid of Michigan right from the

get go why it really fucked me yeah let's pick a how it the child playing the child playing the child I like it though I like it it's aggressive yeah by the way what is the mascot for Akron is it's a zip I know that but is that a kangaroo it's a kangaroo it's a kangaroo Kangaroo. That's what it was. Fuck. New is something that hot. All right. Keep going down.

I guess I'll go Iowa State. Yeah. Nice toughness there in the middle of the country. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Here we go. All right. There's a final four.

Perfect. Travis, we got. Oh. I guess I'll go Duke, Arizona. Alabama. That was the SEC team that I liked. I liked Alabama. There's the one sneaking through.

Okay. Yeah, and then I'm going, gosh, I mean, it's just going to be Florida. Illinois, I'll go Illinois. I'll go Illinois sneaking through. Make it interesting. Well, there you have it. There's our final force. Traff.

Should there be a punishment for the New Heights member that finishes last? Last? By the New Heights member, anybody in the staff? I kind of like this. God damn. What would it be? What do you like? If we are doing this, I'm definitely not picking Howard to beat me.

I'm just going to put it. I like this idea. What is a sufficient last place bet? Hot sauce? All right. I could do hot sauce. Magdog 357, like platinum or something like that has like six million Scoville units.

You just take like a toothpick of that and dip it on your tongue. It'll get you. Yeah, well, I once said the Paki one chip challenge, that wasn't fun. I would say, I would say, yeah. Whoever comes in Dead Last has to eat a whole wing dipped in that hot sauce. I don't know that we want to go there. I was just going to do a toothpick on the tongue. You want a whole wing like that?

I don't do that's... I don't want to do it. No, that's what happens when you come in last. I mean, are we all game for this? I also own a hot sauce company called Hangsau. I don't know I should be promoting another reliable hot sauce company. Yeah, far. Let's do Hank sauce.

But that's going to be enjoyable. That's not a punishment. You need to have something that punishes you. It needs to be too hot. Like, that's not what Hank sauce is. That's what Mad Dog 357 will freaking... I mean, it's designed to basically, you put a drop of that in chili, and it's going to, like, explode it.

Well, I'm not eating chili, so, yeah, all right. You can make the bet then. Does anybody want to weigh in on this? Is this a sufficient? I mean, we have a lot of commenters, I think, probably a couple of really fucked up stuff for somebody. I think we toss it over that. Okay, we leave it up to, okay, fair enough.

We look forward to seeing what all of your 90% has come up with as the losers punishment. Yeah. All righty. We're going to send out the link to the men's and women's brackets one more time before they close on Thursday and Friday, obviously, because that's when the game starts playing. Again, shout out to our friends at Reese's. Yeah, baby.

I mean, Reese's. Sorry, Reese's. Let's get to our conversation with Ryan Gosling. Our guest today is a 6'4-1 actor from London, Ontario, Canada. He's a three-time Academy Award. nominee. I've never been height-checked. A Golden Globe winner, a four-time host of Saturday Night Live. You know him from the iconic roles or remember the Titans, The Notebook, Blue Valentine, Drive, the nice guys, crazy stupid love, La La Land, Blade Runner Barbie, and now, Project Hail Mary.

Ninety-two percenters, he's more than just 10. Please welcome Mr. Ryan Gosselin. There we go. There we go. Oh, my God, he said 6-1. That was amazing. Hey, we do our research here. We do our research here. You had to call out, remember the Titans, too, man. Don't never forget that I'm a liability. White corner. At the corner, I'm a liabilities.

That role, that in particular scene in the movie is the thing that I see calling out the most. How much do you get that constantly? It doesn't matter what I accomplish in my life. There'll be someone in the comment section that says, never forget, he's an absolute liability at the corner. It doesn't matter what I do One of the greatest actors of our generation Three-time Academy Award winner He's a liability at the corner

Can't play corner though Get peaty in there Get Petey in there Asap Dude I'll tell you what You're not a liability in This new movie I'm not like listen

We do a lot of these I don't know how the hell How the fuck we're getting Guys like you to come on our show This movie is fucking awesome It's awesome. It is so great. You kill it.

You're this somehow like unbelievable biologists, but also this down-to-earth, very relatable person who's hilarious, heartfelt. I mean, it tugs on so many of the right cords, especially with everything happening in this fucking world right now. But you, Rocky, the whole thing, man. It's so good. Congratulations. Thank you, man.

How are we feeling about it compared to everything that you've already done? You know, I feel like. yeah, really lucky to have made this movie because, you know, it came at a time. Like, Andy, first of all, like, you're right, it is a great story and it is, these are great characters. And like, and I have removed myself from that because the reality is it was an incredible book before it was a film, right? And Andy Weir, you know, wrote this book that has become considered one of the best science fiction

books of all time. Some people, you know, many people say it's like one of the best books they've ever read. So we were already hitting the ground running, you know? I mean, it's not often, I've never been a part of a film

where I kind of knew people were going to like it because the book had already been stress tested, right? Like, we already knew these are great characters. We already knew this was a great story. I mean, there's a pressure to that for sure. I was about to say, man, there's great books all the time that people fuck up in movies, unfortunately.

Because they change him. Because they change him, right? I produced this film and I just knew that the best thing I could do as a producer was just stay close to the material, have Andy on set as much as possible, run everything by him. He has such a cool perspective, certainly in science fiction, but I think just in general right now because he believes in people. He believes in what we're capable of. He believes that we're capable of great things. it's not like unearned optimism. It's not just optimism for the sake of it. You know, he reminds you in his work that like all the great innovations in human history started as impossible ideas

and human beings made them possible, you know, and that we we make the impossible possible all the time. It's kind of like our thing. And that's such a unique thing to celebrate, you know, oddly enough, right? It's like we're so inundated with like apocalyptic scenarios that it feels like they're inevitable, that it's so bleak the future. And then he, he, like, writes this book that says, no, maybe the future isn't something to be afraid of. Maybe it's just something to figure out. And being a dad, you know, having two young kids,

and I feel like everything is just designed to scare them, I was so grateful just as a father to get to make a story for my kids, maybe not to be too lofty, but for their generation, that kind of reminds you of what we're capable of as human beings. It doesn't pretend that there's not going to be problems, but that we can solve them, you know? And anyway, he's a unique writer in that way.

I think that's why people love this book so much. And, yeah, so to get to spend the last almost six years now, being around that and thinking that way and surrounding myself with people like that has been a real, yeah, just, I don't know how to say it just like a gift you know that's awesome man I love everything you just said I really do and it comes through in the film um it it really does the optimism and the the resilience and the persistence to figure things out and this endless I don't know man it's it's so well done

you know a movie's good when like you're experiencing every emotion while you're watching it right like you're you're laughing you're crying you're the height of happy the lowest of like man this sucks. Like, that's when you're really involved in it. Yeah, you even in this, I think, do the laugh cry, which is really hard to get. You know, often you're crying, you love you. And then you go like, I'm just going to laugh and cry because I'll just get them both out at once. But these directors are really, they're so unique in that regard.

Like, I don't know if you've seen their other films, but they did like 21 Jump Street and the Lego film and Cloudy with a chance of meatballs and the Spider-Verse. It's like everything is so. much better than it should be. They have this unique ability to kind of sneak up on you and make you feel all the things and they're so funny. So for me, it was like it had to be them, you know, and this is just such a perfect marriage of material and directors. You know, like, they are just, it just had to be them. When you were reading the book, did you see it as more, like there was some comedy in it? I don't know, I can't imagine the book having this much, like, fun that it seems like you were having throughout the movie though yeah andy we are does right he understands that like well

first of all he's like a former engineer he is as brilliant as this character oh wow and so he the science the science is very important to him that it be accurate even like it's funny he said i knew i was different when i was watching titanic and when jack when jack is dying i looked up at the constellations above them in the water and i said those aren't the constellations that would be there That's different. That's different. You know, he was like that that bothered me, and I knew no one else was thinking that I thought, I'm different. So he's like, it's so dense, the science, it's so scientifically grounded that he understands that it has to be funny.

Otherwise, you know, it's just not going to work. You know, no one's going to be able to stick with it. So he did create a lot of humor throughout it. And then we just got a lot of funny people on board. You know, Chris and Phil or so, you know, they're just, everybody had a, was funny. And so everyone added their funny. And so it became, I think, funnier. But it was already there, I think, in the DNA.

That's awesome, man. You got to help me figure out some of this magic that was shot. So the whole time you're talking to Rocky, we're not giving away too much by saying Rocky, right? No, we should talk. It's funny. It's like when we first came out with it, people didn't want us to talk about. Rocky, but it's like, it's like pretending E.T's about a kid whose parents got divorced. You know, it's about an alien. We got to talk about it. So please, feel free. All right, cool. So

during these scenes, are you having a conversation with yourself the whole time? Like, what's the difficulty of not really being in a scene with somebody else? So this was, this was what I think is the magic of the movie is that he was there. We went, we went puppet. Oh, wow. We didn't go CGI. We went a full full puppet. He's in the room. He's there.

And not is he there. He's got five puppeteers each operating one of his arms. Stop it. They're dressed like ninjas. Guys, they're dressed like ninjas. They're all black, just their eyes. Like, that's not distracting

at all. You know, his name's Rocky. They call themselves the Rocketeers. He rolls in with an entourage. It's like. It's so good. But James Ortiz is basically the lead puppeteer. And it would have been so much easier had we gone CGI, you know, but there would be no magic, right? Because he's there in the room.

I can talk to him. He's moving around. We end up, we can improvise, we can take the scene in different directions. It's real. I mean, there were times that I felt like I had like an alien friend, you know, because it was So, like, the artistry in which they do what they do made it so real. So I think you feel it. You know, I think in the movie, it's like, it actually, it is a relationship.

It's not like what you're used to seem because everything is so, like, effects driven now. Yeah. No, it's awesome. I mean, it makes you feel like Rocky's all of our friends in a sense. I mean, it just blows my mind. How does it feel to be a, to be a supporting actor in Rocky's film? I mean, really. To a face.

He stole the show. To our faceless, Rock. Well, what's funny is that he's real, like, he's been, like they've been having him come to some of these junkets. Yeah. So they're like, they'll tell me, like, oh, Rocky's here in the hotel. He's in the, he was at the presidential suite at one of these hotels we stayed out recently with 24-hour security. He's living like a game. This dude's changed, man.

This dude has changed. He doesn't text. He's not like, I'm in town. What's up? Nothing. Dude, I was sitting on the couch watching this. And my kids are watching like something else on Disney or whatever. And they're like, what do you watch it?

Dad? I'm like, watch this movie. Like, oh, can we watch it? And all of a sudden, Rocky comes in. And they are like glued from that moment. And I'm like, dude, this is how you know this is a good. Like, if you're distracting from a cartoon over here that's like pixelated and geared to get there like retina and attention span and all that other stuff happening, They were locked in.

I mean, they loved Rocky, like, could not get enough Rocky. So it's, it really works for anybody. I mean, the film is, it's awesome, man. It's cool because, you know, I think, like, Andy really put a lot of thought into what, you know, there's no, it's not the trick of like, he doesn't have big eyes. He's not cute in a traditional sense, right? He's got no face. Yeah. He's got five arms.

He's made out of rock. He doesn't speak. Like, you know, he has his own kind of sounds that he makes. It's like, it's so hard. to connect to him. I mean, I think the challenge of the movie was a bit like, will people connect to this faceless rock, you know, without using any of the kind of tricks that we would normally use. But the beauty is that you end up, you kind of can't imagine you're going to be crying over this faceless rock at the end of a film. But that's like the magic trick of the movie is

like, like, when it's over, people are like, Rocky, take him. You want to die for him. Yeah. It's cool. So do we believe in aliens now? Do you want to go to space? There we go. I have no interest in going to space. Do you?

I do. I do. I want to go. I have to go. I have to go. I don't know. The moon, I guess. It's the closest thing.

Okay. Yeah. I'll go there. I don't want to get too far away that I miss too much time. Just there and back, just a quick shuttle. Right? Yeah. Yeah.

I don't want to go. I want to pretend to go. You didn't want to go in the movie either. We found that out. That I related to. A crazy. the shoe drop right there. But I do think it's fun to talk about, like,

that we're in a period of time where we're not really saying, like it feels like the conversation has shifted away from are there aliens to more like, where are they and when are we going to see them? Yeah. For sure. Yeah, the question growing up was definitely the other version of like, are there aliens out there? Now it's like, oh, no, there's definitely aliens out there.

Just have they, are they with us right now? Is the conversation, right? Yeah, I don't think that they're like crashing. Yeah. You know, like, this idea that they're like coming to Earth and then they're like, what, they're losing the brakes, like, what happens? Like, oh, no, the brakes. Like, they're not, I don't think they're crashing.

That's my only. That's all I know. If they're technologically advanced to get here, they're probably. They're losing break fluid on the way in or whatever the hell happens. Oh, God. That's good. But I do think Andy put this, like, all this thought into this idea of like, okay, so maybe they don't come to us.

You got to go to them. maybe, you know, like this, all this stuff, like he exists in his own atmosphere, right? So you can't even like really be in the same place with him. He has to make this kind of ball to be in. He wouldn't speak the same language. He wouldn't have the same kind of features that we have. Like it's a pretty like credible stab at what that might be like. You know, it's done in an entertaining way, but it does feel like it's very scientifically grounded in a way that I don't, I don't, I've never really read

seen before. Yeah, I do remember, I listened to Neil deGrasse Tyson talk about stuff a lot. And one of the things he's often said about sci-fi films is the lack of creativity in outer space and extraterrestrial. It's like, they're always like bipedal and like they just have the weird ads, but they still have hands. And it's like, no, no, no, this thing probably is going to be unlike anything you've ever seen. And you guys accomplish that perfectly. I mean, with every facet of it, right? Like the astrophages, what is the astrophages? Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay, Jason. Rocking. Yeah, man. Drop an astrophage. Hell yeah, dude. Just casually dropping an astrophage. You watch the movie. We get it.

Okay. Let me ask you another silly one. I love asking dumb questions. If you had to show an alien one movie, which one would you show him? It could be any movie in the world. So his name was Rocky. Right. And then I realized, you know, we were making this film with MGM. And I was like, wait, you guys of all the rights to all the Rockies, right? And the Creed's? And they were like, yeah, of course. And I was like, well, I have to show him all of those. So we watched all the Reckes. We watched all the creeds. I think that's a good choice. I think showing an alien Rocky is not a bad way to go. Which Rockies are your favorite? The first one just for the whole, look, you know, I mean, you know this story, but like he had to sell his dog.

It's an interesting... Do you know that? I don't even... I've seen it so many times. Stallone had to sell his dog to get this movie made. And then when he made the money back from the script... Oh, you're talking about in real life?

In real life, he sold his dog. What? What? You can get that much money for a dog? God, we got to see what Patty's worth. No, I'm sorry, good. He sells his dog. Then when he sells the script,

he buys his dog back. And that's the dog in the movie. That's sick. Stop it. The levels to which what was going on for Stallone, it seems, in his life and the story of what was happening for Rocky are so closely linked. You know, that there's like a metanist to the first one. That's a great point. That's hard to beat.

But I like the Dolph Lundgren one. That one's amazing. The training sequence there, like the futurist, him with the, you know, like out in the... He's got the log. With the log in the snow. Yeah, four is just like a guilty, just like so, it's like you're eating the most luxurious chocolate cake of patriotism and like masculinity you can indulge in. But yeah, one is I do find myself. The speech he gives in Balboa to his son on the street is also, I mean, when does that not work if you need it?

You're right. You're right. Everyone in Philadelphia still uses that speech every day of their lives. I mean, I'm getting goosebumps even just think about that speech. What about over the top? A little trucker, arm wrestling action? Yeah, baby. Because sometimes in life you've got to turn the hat around.

Sometimes you're going. Sometimes you just got to turn the hat around, guys. So good. That movie, talk about ridiculous, but still a guilty pleasure. That'll make me cry. The way he is with his son, those pep talks he gives him. Yeah, that'll get you going. He's the greatest, like, pep talk.

That thing in Creed, where he says to him in the mirror, that's your worst, that's your worst enemy or your greatest opponent or, I mean, he's just, just alone. He's that bad. He still does it in Tulsa King, too. I've been stuck on that fucking show. I love it. What's the next, big guy? Are we, are we sticking in the sci-fire?

Are we, like, Star Wars movies next? How do we get right? Is there another, is there a sequel to this? Are we already thinking how we're going to do this? I'm hoping Andy has an idea because I would. love that. I just finished a Star Wars film, which will come out next year. Oh, awesome.

What? Really? Oh, shit. Hell yeah. Are you able to give us any information on that? Like, what's... It's not part of the timeline of the other Star Wars films.

It takes place in its own timeline, and it's all original characters. And it's directed by Sean Levy, who did Deadpool Wolverine most recently. but he also, you know, the stranger, Stranger Things and just so many things, the night at the museums. He's such a perfect director for this. He just completely got the tone. And yeah, it was crazy.

It was crazy to be working on a Star Wars film. That's so awesome. Are you guys Star Wars fans? I love it. I mean, I wouldn't say, like, we're as plugged into, like, the very minor, like, minutia. but yeah very big fans yeah same it's like i didn't really like i didn't see it until i was older but i had star war sheets you know oh yeah definitely yeah and everything star wars yeah like i it was

always around even if i hadn't seen it it was just such a it's like the beetles it's like always been there you know correct and you don't realize how much a part of you it is how it defined your idea of what's a hero what's a villain what's a what score you know what is font what is what's a sound effect you know on all the levels it just is so permeated like my sensibilities as a as a as a person who who likes film i didn't know until i got there just how deep it went you know so that was that was interesting well you just said good and evil are we a part of the empire are we jettie like what are we in this film just like a problem with the reception it's fair enough fair enough

There's a lifesaver that's just going to come in and just said too much. All right. We're going to get to this section. We got to ask. Okay. All right. Your co-star and Blade Runner, Harrison Ford, was on Jimmy Kimmel and was asked if he has had sex while playing soundtracks from his films.

And his answer was, of course I have. It's a dumb question. Ryan, we have the same question to you, I guess. Is that? No. That's a hard note. That's an easy, easy no. No.

This is surprising, yes, of course, from Harrison, I guess. But of course, Harrison has. I always say, I always say, like, never meet your heroes unless they're Harrison Ford. Yes. Yes. He's as cool as you want him to be. That's awesome. He punched me one time in a scene, and then when they brought me ice for my face, he took the ice away out of my hand, and he put his fist in it, and he said, I forgive you.

And then they brought me Advil, I was like, went to take two Advil. And he took the whole thing and he just went like, and he housed like 15 of them. You can't do that. You can't do that. He's not like us. Oh, my God. I love this, dude. He could just house half a bottle of Advil as a joke.

He doesn't care. He's just, dude, when he, you know, in, in, you know, I think it's Raiders. You know, when he's riding and his hat kept coming off? Yeah. When he's riding the horse, he stapled it to his head. Just. This guy's insane. They were trying to tape it.

And he said, forget it. Give me a stapler. And he stapled it to his head. Is this like a well-known thing about Harrison Ford, that he's just a lunatic? He's not like us. He's one of those aliens among us, man. He's that guy. That is fucking hilarious.

That line where she says, Princess Leia says, I love you, and he goes, I know. That's him. He said that. That's him. He's the real deal. Oh, what a legend, man. Holy cow.

Is it true you were suspended from first grade because you brought steak knives and started throwing them at kids at recess? I didn't throw them at kids. I might have thrown near them. I might have just been doing them in the ground, but yeah, I did get in a bit of trouble for that. Nice, man. Well, you're speaking to two other, I was expelled from a preschool for stabbing a kid with a sport.

What? I did. Yeah, yeah. If you're going to do it with something, a spork is. And it was also, it was a retaliatory stab. Right. It wasn't like I was just like, you know, psycho in this and just stabbing random kids. And the dullness of it would just really, we just heard in a different way, which is like, more like.

psychological. Oh, yeah. No, it broke skin. It broke skin. I saw it. I saw it. It broke skin. Yeah, it was not good. Not good. Anyways, how do you feel about being the unofficial face of Taco Bell inflation? Um, this is the first time hearing it. What is this? The beefy five-layer burrito, 89 cents. Really? And the beefy five-layer burrito now, $5.36. I'm not getting a dime for this. I'm not even getting, I'm not even getting food videos for this. Oh my God. Is that real?

I would assume so. I mean, it's real on the internet. Oh my God. I guess it's real now. The internet is undefeated, man. Undefeated. Internet's going to internet. That's one thing you can count on. No doubt. What is your Taco Bell favorite? I mean, I don't want to keep giving Taco Bell

free. Bad space. Yeah, but I don't know. I'm more of a cheesy or d'or d'i crunch guy myself. All right. Do you have a welcome to Hollywood moment? Oh. Like what? Like, what do you mean?

It could be good or bad or like something where you're just like, oh, this is Hollywood. Right. Where it just dawned on you. I mean, you were, it's hard, I guess, because you were in it's so young. I had a moment at like a party where I did, I was trying to sneak in and out, like, just to not, you know, whatever. I, whatever. I went in through the kitchen. Yeah.

And I saw Stallone. He was hiding in the kitchen, too. And I got to talk to him for, for like. He was hiding in the kitchen, too? Yes. And, you know, he had just been such an inspiration to me in so many ways, you know? And, like, I got to, yeah, talk to him in the kitchen of his party. It just felt like such like a pretty Hollywood moment, you know.

But he didn't disappoint either. He gave me great advice. And he was like, yeah, he was just how like, that went down how you would hope that it would. What's your Hollywood moment? Oh, yeah. I'm still, I ain't got a Hollywood moment. We got NFL moments. Travis might have a Hollywood moment.

The closest thing to Hollywood moment for me was, uh, I was doing S&L and I was already like, I have no fucking business doing, being the host SNL. And as I'm doing, as I'm doing the table reads, which I can't read at all. So I am like already nervous as hell just to try and get through the reads, let alone having all these writers come up to me trying to get me to really nail that punchline. I'm sitting here, like stuttering through everything. Same, by the way. You're not alone.

Will Ferrell just comes kind of coasting through. And I just like freeze in the middle of my read. I'm like full circle moment of like being at SNL. I've only like watched SNL because the guys like Farley and Will Ferrell and Sandler and those guys. So it's like to feel that man coming, come walking through and see me struggling trying to read his script was like a full fucking, it was a cluster fucking. In my head, I was just like, what is life?

He's the best, man. Just the absolute best. Another one that I had, too, is when I went involving him was like, when I first moved to Hollywood, I went to see the taping of a talk show. And one of the guests was late or something. So they had us, like, sit on the floor. And then they were, like, throwing three musketeers at us, like, to feed us. It was just awful the way they were treating, treating everyone.

And we were all like, this sucks. It was not the experience we wanted. And then we showed up and we sat in the audience and telling us when to laugh and everything felt pretty rehearsed. And it just wasn't like aligning with what you wanted it to be. And suddenly this was before Will Ferrell was known, but he started like pretending he was lost on the set. So he would like show up behind the host and then like move along and then get lost. and we were all like he was crashing this person's interview and it was so funny

and it kind of it just made the whole experience for us you know we were like this sucked until he showed up and now everything's better. Yeah. He's always like that. Like I'm not surprised to hear you were having a hard time and then Will Ferrell showed up and suddenly things got better, you know? He's just like.

It's so crazy. Let me ask you this before we get out of here. I know we usually end on the Hollywood moment question, but you were obviously in Hollywood at a young age. And a lot of what you were doing was music. Have you ever thought about like kind of venturing or like getting back into the music side of things or having more of a career in that? I feel like it's it's been cool to be able to do it in some films, you know, to find a way to explore that. I mean, I kind of got in.

You know, my uncle was an Elvis impersonator. And so it's how I came home one day when I, I was eight and my uncle was bedazzling a white jumpsuit in the living room. And I was like, what are you doing? He was like, I'm going to be Elvis for a little while. And I was like, okay. It's a hell of a statement. So he became Elvis.

He was like doing karate in the backyard and talking like Elvis and wearing the outfit in the house. And he was showing me out of like Method Act, basically. So not even like birthday parties or events. He was just doing this. He was just Elvis. He was just going to be Elvis for a little while. while full time.

This is so good, man. But then he put us all in the act. So he said to me, you're going to be my head of security. Yeah. I'm eight. You know? This is so good. He got me like a gold LeMay jacket that said head of security.

And like, I was serious. I was like, okay, that's my job. And then he would perform at the mall. And, you know, like, it just, it kind of changed. everybody's life, right? Like, we all felt like we were hanging out with Elvis. We felt like we had seen Elvis. The whole town was like, came alive. People were singing and dancing and they had their talents. It was this amazing impact that he had. And then he decided not to do it anymore and everything got real boring again. But my sister and I were like, can we do that again?

Yeah, we need. I want to keep going that. Yeah. We kind of liked you better as Elvis. My sister and I started singing at weddings. You know, that's where the music thing kind of started. It just felt like a way to stay in that vibe, you know, to keep, to keep not go back to normal life, to just keep going with the circus, you know. So then music became a thing that I was doing, you know, just as a way to stay to keep things from becoming normal, you know, and again, and then, you know, I found acting and then I found filmmaking. And so it kind of was the thing to get me there. But yeah, anyway. That's awesome, man. Well, Ron, appreciate the stories. Thank you for your time. dog everybody project hail mary in theaters friday march 20th make you make sure you see it on the

biggest screen possible brother i just want to say man you're one of my favorites of all time dog from la la land crazy stupid love bro this is so cool to just pick your brain on on how you got here and uh and happy for you man project hell mary is a it's a home run the fact that you guys would have me knowing i'm a liability at the corner of so it means a lot to me honestly they're like legitimizes that. We're all about team play. Yeah, we're too. That was a team move.

Thank you. You and Charlie Conway, the only guys that have pulled themselves out. Your team would get better. Anyways, you're the best, Ryan. I appreciate this. Thank you so much, guys. Dude, that guy is an electric SOB. He does not disappoint.

I mean, it's funny, charming, good looking, goddamn. How many fucking things do we have going for us, Ryan? What else? Well, I mean, we forgot to ask him about throwing the football. for the baseball. That's a wrap, Tram. How about it, man. Thank you to Ryan Gosson for being here.

Check out Project Hail Mary in theaters on March 20th. And make sure you subscribe to the New Heights channel on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast. Fill out those brackets. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. Once again, New Heights, a Wondry show brought to you by Reese's. Follow the show on all social media at New Heights Show with one else for fun clips throughout the week. And thanks our production team for always making us look way better than what we actually are. man, we love you guys, and we love you 92-percenters for always tuning in.

This is a fun one, man. Hope you guys enjoyed it. We'll see you next week. Peace. Peace. Ryan, we're not experts at this. We're just going to have a conversation. Well, that makes three of us.

What a cool gig, though, for you guys. This is amazing. Still don't know how we got here, Ryan. Still don't know how we got here. You're just talking to each other about stuff, but you've turned it into like an amazing job. So who worked this deal for? for you. Can I get, like, me and my sister get in on... Brandon, Carly, come back in. We need questions, yeah.