James Ortiz didn’t expect to be a marquee star of one of the year’s biggest blockbusters — but the Fates have a way of pulling strings. While working as the puppeteer of Rocky, the alien opposite Ryan Gosling’s Dr. Ryland Grace in Project Hail Mary, Ortiz voiced the character on set during scenes. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller took notice and offered him the vocal role in lieu of a celebrity.
“There’s very few precedents for the on-set puppeteer to be the voice of the character,” Ortiz attests. “I'm just so grateful and overwhelmed.”
Previously, Ortiz’s puppet designs have been in Broadway productions like The Skin of Our Teeth and the Into the Woods revival. Project Hail Mary marks his biggest stage yet, with a timely message. “It was ultimately a story about two beings that think they are completely unalike that actually are exactly the same…. I think the only big difference is that Rocky is a hugger, and Grace probably isn't.”
Rocky has been a particular hit with LGBTQ+ people, Ortiz included. “I’ve always felt like a wacky alien person, and I think my queerness has a lot to do with that. And in a funny way, working on Project Hail Mary, it was the first time in my career where all of me was invited to work,” Ortiz says.
“If Rocky, in his bizarre way of communicating — excuse me, Rocky in their bizarre way of communicating — helps other people feel more heard and seen, then…that’s the highest form of praise I could possibly receive.” @jortface
