It’s been an out-of-this-world past few years for James Ortiz, the New York theater artist and puppeteer behind Rocky, the lovable alien at the center of Project Hail Mary.
Ortiz spent months on a London set working opposite Ryan Gosling, providing the voice and overseeing the puppetry for the rock-like alien, who is on a mission to save his home planet’s star when he meets Gosling’s Ryland Grace, who is on his own mission to save the Earth’s Sun.
The friendship between the two is the heart of the movie, which has passed $322 million globally, making it the biggest hit of the year to date.
Despite Hail Mary being a $190 million production with action and spectacle, filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller asked Ortiz and Gosling to improvise long takes, almost like it was a theater production.
“Sometimes, it was 45-minute takes of just
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