Inside The Astronaut with Kate Mara.
The chilling new sci-fi thriller The Astronaut is now playing in theaters, starring Kate Mara, Laurence Fishburne, Gabriel Luna, Ivana Milicevic, Macy Gray, and introducing Scarlett Holmes. Written and directed by Jess Varley, the film centers on astronaut Sam Walker, who crash-lands off the Atlantic coast and is discovered alive inside a damaged capsule. Placed under quarantine by General William Harris, she begins to suspect that something extraterrestrial followed her back to Earth.
A Journey into the Unknown
Kate Mara’s fascination with space has never been about wanting to travel there herself, but rather about exploring what it represents through storytelling. “I’m still fascinated with space,” Mara said. “I’ve never had the desire to go to space, but I am an actor, and I can luckily pretend for a living.” She recalled filming The Martian, admitting she nearly “threw up in the helmet” during a shaking sequence. “I just get so nauseous in moving vehicles,” she laughed.
Mara credited writer-director Jess Varley’s preparation for grounding the film’s authenticity. “Jess did all these interviews with real astronauts while writing the script,” she explained. “Most of what my character experiences comes from that research, so I got to piggyback off her preparation.”
Fear, Curiosity, and Survival
The film builds tension through psychological unease and subtle horror. Mara shared that much of that dread mirrored her own discomfort. “Most of the movie, my character’s uneasy—and I was too,” she admitted. “I have a hard time with body horror, but it’s subtle enough that even if it freaks you out, it works for the story.”
When asked how she’d react if confronted with something unexplainable, Mara said she hopes she’d rise to the challenge. “I hope I wouldn’t respond with fear, but that’s such a human reaction,” she reflected. “I’d like to think I’d be more of a badass about it.”
Finding Voice Beyond the Stars
Beyond her live-action work, Mara has also contributed to sci-fi worlds in unexpected ways. She laughed when reminded of her voice role in Tron: Uprising. “You said Tron and I was like, ‘I’m not in a Tron movie!’” she said, before lighting up about her passion for voice acting. “I love doing voiceover work. It’s a real passion of mine, and I don’t get to do it often. As a kid, I did jingles and dreamed of being a Disney singer.”
That blend of nostalgia and imagination fuels her performance in The Astronaut, a story that explores what it means to be human when faced with the unthinkable. Mara’s quiet intensity anchors the film’s eerie atmosphere, reminding audiences that fear and courage often coexist in the same breath.
More from The Astronaut
Mara’s Astronaut co-star Gabriel Luna also spoke with Nerdtropolis about his experience in the film and his enduring connection to Ghost Rider and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Read that full interview here.
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Sean Tajipour
Sean Tajipour is the Founder and Editor of Nerdtropolis and the host of the Moviegoers Society and Reel Insights Podcast. He is also a member of the Critics Choice Association. You can follow on Twitter and Instagram @Seantaj.
