Mar 20, 2026 3:30pm PT

Bringing Rocky to Life: How ‘Project Hail Mary’ Puppeteer James Ortiz Created the Movie’s Lovable Alien

Brent Lang

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Brent Lang

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When Ryan Gosling interacts on screen with his alien buddy, which he does for more than half of “Project Hail Mary,” he wasn’t staring at a green screen as cameras rolled. Instead, he was playing off of an elaborate puppet manned by James Ortiz, a New York theater staple best known for bringing cows, mammoths and dinosaurs to life in Broadway shows like “The Skin of Their Teeth” and “Into the Woods.” In fact, Ortiz was on set for nearly all of the film’s six-month shoot in London, because directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller wanted to use practical, instead of digital, effects as much as possible.

Bringing Rocky to Life: How 'Project Hail Mary' Puppeteer James Ortiz Created the Movie's Lovable Alien