How Harry Styles’ ‘Sign of the Times’ made it into ‘Project Hail Mary’

In the new Ryan Gosling movie Project Hail Mary, the character of Eva Stratt, played by Sandra Hüller, performs a karaoke version of Harry Styles’ debut solo hit, “Sign of the Times.” How did that particular song end up in the movie and its soundtrack? Turns out it was Sandra Hüller’s idea.

In the movie, Sandra’s character sings the song while bidding farewell to her team. In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, the German actress, who was Oscar-nominated for her role in 2023’s Anatomy of a Fall, explains, “It came from a playlist [of] goodbye songs. So I was looking for something that was, like, a final goodbye to someone — that was the first thing.”

“And then, it was a coincidence, actually, that it was also about space, and going to the sky and all these things,” she adds. “And then I thought, ‘Wow, I didn’t know.’ I know that song, but I never made this connection in my head. … And also, when you sing it, it’s very moving, especially in the last part, where it goes, like, really big.”

“I realized in that moment when I listened to it, like, really, really closely, that it could be for us,” she continues. 

She also shared with EW that she ran the idea by her daughter: “I asked my daughter if it’s actually cool or if it’s just me who finds it cool at almost 48 [years old]. And she approved.”

In the song, Harry sings, “You can’t bribe the door on your way to the sky” and “Just stop your crying, have the time of your life/ breaking through the atmosphere.” In 2017, he told Rolling Stone that the song is written from the point of view of a mother who is dying while giving birth.