Project Hail Mary opened to $140.9 million worldwide in its debut weekend, breaking Amazon MGM’s all-time opening record and proving that original sci-fi can still dominate the box office. But while the film’s success has put its cast firmly in the spotlight, there’s quite a gap between what each of them is actually worth. From a Hollywood superstar to a Broadway puppeteer making his screen debut, here’s every top-billed cast member ranked by net worth.
#1. Ryan Gosling — ~$70 Million
Nobody else comes close. Gosling, who plays astronaut Ryland Grace, is estimated to be worth around $70 million, and it’s not hard to see why. Forbes reported he earned $43 million in 2023 alone, largely off the back of Barbie‘s $1.44 billion global run. He commands between $10 and $20 million per film and also serves as a producer on Project Hail Mary. His career stretches from The Mickey Mouse Club as a child to three Oscar nominations, a Golden Globe win for La La Land, and a films catalogue that has grossed over $3.3 billion worldwide. With a 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes, Project Hail Mary is already his best-reviewed film to date.
#2. Milana Vayntrub — ~$4 Million
Most people know Vayntrub as Lily Adams from AT&T’s long-running ad campaign, but there’s a lot more to her career than that. She’s worth an estimated $4 million, built through over 77 acting credits including recurring roles on This Is Us, voice work as Marvel’s Squirrel Girl, and a performance in God of War: Ragnarök. Born in Uzbekistan and raised in the U.S. after her family fled as refugees, she’s fluent in Russian, which makes her casting as Russian engineer Olesya Ilyukhina a natural fit.
#3. Sandra Hüller — ~$3–5 Million
Her net worth sits between $3 and $5 million, which is modest by Hollywood standards but entirely expected for an actress whose career is rooted in European art cinema. What Hüller lacks in Hollywood paychecks, she more than makes up for in critical standing. She’s the first German actress nominated for the Best Actress Oscar since Luise Rainer in 1937, earned back-to-back Cannes prizes for Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest in the same year, and won a second Silver Bear at Berlin 2026, just weeks before Project Hail Mary opened. Critics have already called her performance as Eva Stratt one of the film’s highlights.
#4. Ken Leung — ~$2–4 Million
Leung’s net worth is estimated somewhere between $2 and $4 million, depending on the source. He’s been a respected character actor for nearly three decades, appearing in Rush Hour, Lost, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, X-Men: The Last Stand, and The Sopranos, yet never quite became a household name. That may be about to change. His current role as Eric Tao in HBO’s Industry has earned him significant renewed acclaim, with the show’s creators calling him “one of the great actors of his generation.” He plays Chinese scientist Yáo Li-Jie in the film.
#5. Lionel Boyce — ~$1–2 Million
Boyce’s estimated worth of $1 to $2 million reflects a career that only recently shifted into a higher gear. Best known as Marcus, the pastry chef on FX’s The Bear, he earned an Emmy nomination and a SAG Award for the role. His background is genuinely unusual: he grew up in Inglewood, California, befriended Tyler, the Creator in high school, and became part of the hip-hop collective Odd Future before pivoting to acting. His character, Officer Steve Hatch, nicknamed “Carl,” doesn’t actually appear in Andy Weir’s novel. He was written specifically for the film to give Gosling a comedic sparring partner.
#6. Priya Kansara — ~$1 Million
Kansara is one of the most interesting stories in the cast. She graduated from University College London with a degree in molecular biology, spent years in pharmaceutical communications, and only left her corporate career to pursue acting full time in 2021. Her very first professional audition landed her a role in Bridgerton Season 2. Her breakout came with Polite Society in 2023, which premiered at Sundance and won her the Asian Media Awards’ Best Newcomer prize. In Project Hail Mary, she voices Mary, the ship’s AI. Her net worth is estimated at around $1 million, though given how quickly her career is moving, that figure is likely to look very different in a few years.
#7. James Ortiz — Net Worth Not Confirmed
There’s no reliable net worth figure for Ortiz, and honestly, that makes sense. He’s a theater puppeteer and designer with over 15 years of off-Broadway and Broadway experience, not a film actor with a publicised salary history. He won an Obie Award for Puppet Design and a Drama Desk Award, and his puppet for Milky White in the 2022 Broadway revival of Into the Woods went viral. In Project Hail Mary, he both voices and physically performs the alien character Rocky, heading up a team of puppeteers the crew nicknamed “the Rockyteers.” He was originally told his voice would be replaced by a famous actor. It wasn’t. Project Hail Mary is his screen debut, and based on early audience reaction to Rocky, it won’t be his last.