“Project Hail Mary”’s secret weapon: How a puppeteer brought humanity to Ryan Gosling's alien BFF

"The real surprise was James Ortiz," the star says. "We were improvising for hours." ...

'Project Hail Mary' Wouldn't Work Without Its Most Daring Creative Decision

Project Hail Mary wouldn’t have worked nearly as well without the decision to make Rocky a practical puppet instead of CGI.

Andy Weir details bringing Rocky to life in “Project Hail Mary” using six puppeteers (exclusive)

"We all knew that this movie lives and dies on our portrayal of Rocky," the author tells PEOPLE ...