How a Mistake Made ‘Project Hail Mary’s’ Rocky Into a Breakout Star

Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Supported by SKIP ADVERTISEMENT How a Mistake Led to the Breakout Star of ‘Project Hail Mary’ Rocky was brought to life through a combination of puppetry and visual effects. But his charming personality was the result of a misunderstanding. Listen · 7:04 min Share full article By Esther Zuckerman March 29, 2026, 5:01 a.m. ET In “ Project Hail Mary ,” Ryan Gosling shares the screen with an adorably high-strung alien called Rocky, because of his rocklike body. Rocky’s jittery personality is one of his most charming traits, but it was initially based on a mistake by the lead puppeteer and voice actor, James Ortiz. After reading Andy Weir’s novel on which the movie is based, Ortiz thought that time on Rocky’s planet, Erid, moves faster than time on Earth. “As an actor, I went, ‘Oh my God, what a great piece of information, that’s his internal metronome, that’s his heart, his little hummingbird energy,’” Ortiz said in a video interview. He shot for months with that concept in mind. Only later did Ortiz hear Weir on set saying that an Eridian second is actually 2.5 seconds slower than an Earth second. Oritz must have misread. “At some point, I went, ‘Well, Andy, he’s just going to be anxious, OK?’” Rocky’s anxiety has proved quite captivating. Gosling might be the celebrity draw for “Project Hail Mary,” which grossed more than $80 million in its first weekend of release , but Rocky is its breakout star. In the film, Ryland Grace , a science teacher stranded in space trying to figure out why the Earth’s sun is dimming, meets Rocky, another lone traveler. He quickly realizes that the alien has the same goal: To save his planet from the microbe destroying its star. On the page, Rocky’s skin is “brownish-black rock.” He’s about the size of a Labrador with five legs and a carapace that’s “roughly a pentagon.” He doesn’t have a face. Onscreen, he’s positively cute and brought to life through a combination of puppetry and visual effects. “Toward ...