For readers of the Andy Weir novel Project Hail Mary, one question has been lingering for a few years: Who will voice Rocky, the endearing, faceless alien in Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s film adaptation?
Now, there is finally an answer. Theater artist James Ortiz voiced the character in the upcoming project and served as the lead puppeteer for the alien, who is very much the second lead to Ryan Gosling’s Ryland Grace. His work is on display in Super Bowl Sunday’s final trailer for Amazon MGM Studios feature.
“Rocky was built and designed by the legendary Neal Scanlon and his creature shop and is performed by puppeteering legend James Ortiz and his team, who were on set with Ryan in every scene,” Lord wrote on X on Sunday. “Rocky’s performance is a beautiful collaboration between the James and the other Rockyteers on set and the wonderful animators at Framestore led by the funny soulful [Arslan Elver].”
Ortiz may be a Hollywood newcomer, but his puppetry work has made an impact in the world of New York theater. Coming up this fall, his puppetry design will be part of the Metropolitan Opera’s adaptation of George Saunders’ novel Lincoln in the Bardo.
He won a Drama Desk Award in 2022 for outstanding puppet design for the dinosaurs he created for Lincoln Center’s Tony-nominated production of The Skin of Our Teeth. He received a 2017 Eugene O’Neill Theater Center residency and was awarded a Jim Henson Foundation Grant in 2015 and 2019. His off-Broadway work The Woodsman won him a 2016 OBIE Award for outstanding puppet design, and his take on the character Milky White for the 2022 Broadway revival of Into the Woods is on display at the Museum of Broadway.
A year before they went into production on the movie, Lord and Miller told The Hollywood Reporter that Rocky in particular was something they looked forward to figuring out. Said Miller: “Having one of your main characters have no face and speak through music is a challenge that’s crazy enough that we would want to take it on.”
Ortiz is repped by CAA.