Gabriel Luna offered insight into the emotional complexity of the new sci-fi thriller, The Astronaut, distributed by Vertical. The film, written and directed by Jess Varley, centers on astronaut Sam Walker (Kate Mara), who returns to Earth after a crash landing, only to be placed in quarantine by General William Harris (Laurence Fishburne) under strict NASA surveillance, fearing something extraterrestrial followed her home.
Interview with Gabriel Luna “The Astronaut”
In a recent interview with Temple of Geek, Luna, who co-stars alongside Mara, Fishburne, Ivana Milicevic, Macy Gray, and Scarlett Holmes, discusses the film’s exploration of fear, love, and the everyday heroism of ordinary people.
A Story of Fear and Unconditional Love
Luna describes the film’s central theme as the dynamic between “fearing what you don’t know” and “loving something other than something beyond you that’s not of you”. He elaborates that the story is fundamentally about the opposing ideas of fear and love for something that isn’t of “your blood, your planet”. This theme of loving those outside one’s immediate circle is paralleled by the motif of adoption, which Luna found particularly compelling and was a “big selling point” for him when first discussing the project with writer/director Jess Varley.
Playing the Ordinary Hero
Luna’s character, Mark, is a key figure in this emotional landscape, dealing with his wife Sam’s extraordinary situation. Mark is conflicted, trying to juggle what he wants and what he thinks is right, all while taking care of the people he loves. Luna embraces portraying the “ordinary everyday fellas who love their families, who are fearful, and are vulnerable, and have weakness in them”. He appreciates the heroism found not in capes or superpowers, but in the simple acts of a father who loves his family and the “heroism to believe someone when they come to you with what seems like an impossible problem”.
He describes Mark as “a guy in pain,” a professor who teaches English and misses his wife deeply. Mark is in “full support” of his wife’s amazing experiences, yet he grapples with the “resentment of not being able to share the life that they thought that they were going to share together”. The film shows Mark dealing with and wrestling with this reality, preparing himself and his daughter for a possible future without Sam.
Luna suggests the film, with its 90-minute running time, serves as an example on a “small family scale” of what could happen if a similar event were to affect society or the world, ultimately testing our connections and drawing us together.
Working with the Master, Laurence Fishburne
The film boasts an impressive cast, including veteran actor Laurence Fishburne, who plays General William Harris. Luna shared his deep respect for Fishburne, calling him an absolute hero and expressing his love for everything about him. The small ensemble allowed the cast to spend significant time together, even going to the pub after work. Luna recalls an instance where Fishburne asked him for a quiet corner to talk, and he happily took him to O’Donohue’s. Luna described the experience of being around the legendary actor as being able to sit at the foot of the master.
Despite his “action guy” pedigree, Luna noted that his character, Mark, isn’t a tough guy; he’s a bit of a geek himself. However, the actor hinted at an impactful scene he shares with Fishburne where Mark has to take action when times get fraught. The journalist praised Luna’s performance for successfully communicating so many nuances and giving the character a believable backstory in such a short amount of time.
