Project Hail Mary author Andy Weir had no idea what alien creature Rocky was going to look like until he saw the puppet

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More than ten years after Ridley Scott’s acclaimed film, The Martian, based on Andy Weir’s 2011 novel and starring Matt Damon, another one of the author’s popular books is now a major motion picture.

Ryan Gosling stars in the highly enjoyable adventure film, Project Hail Mary, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Early reviews have been fantastic, and many are predicting Oscar nominations and strong box office numbers for the movie.

The film is likely to be a hit thanks to Rocky, a lovable alien made of rock, who forms a special connection with Ryan Gosling’s character, Ryland Grace, during a crucial space mission.

Considering Andy Weir is famous for building incredibly detailed science fiction worlds in his books, you might assume he had a clear vision for how his character Rocky would appear in the movie. However, he says that wasn’t the case at all.

He explained in a recent interview with TopMob that his lack of a strong visual imagination actually helps his writing process. He doesn’t picture characters with detailed appearances; instead, he focuses on their core ideas and personalities as he creates them.

Weir explained that while he had a general sense of what the creatures looked like – for example, knowing one had a chest and five legs – he hadn’t worked out all the specifics of their designs.

He said he couldn’t have described the man’s legs – whether they were thin or thick, bumpy or smooth. He hadn’t focused on those details, and simply hadn’t pictured them in his mind.

I was at the model shop and got to peek into the puppeteers’ workshop, and that’s when I finally saw the Rocky puppet! I was so excited – I’d been wondering what he actually looked like, and there he was!

Directors Lord and Miller, known for films like 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie, and as producers of the Spider-Verse movies, said figuring out how to realistically create Rocky was a daunting task. Miller explained it took around a year of work with special effects artist Neil Scanlan at the Creature Shop in London to achieve the desired result.

I’m so impressed with how well he works with everyone. He constantly praises his team, saying they’re incredibly intelligent. What really struck me was the detail they put into the creature’s design – they explored so many options for its form, but always stayed true to the original description from the book. It was meant to be this rocky, shell-like being with five legs, each having three fingers, and completely lacking a face, eyes, or mouth. It’s that dedication to the source material that I find so admirable.

“It speaks through sort of whale song, and we found proportions that we felt were appealing.

“And then we had to work on, ‘How do we make this a real character?” he continued.

Each section of his shell was shaped like a different kind of rock, not resembling a face, but still suggesting a certain mood or feeling. We then added carvings to represent his background and experiences – things like a wedding ring, a family plaid, badges, or tools – to give him a sense of history and personality.

We’ve created a lot of resources to develop a compelling and multifaceted character. Then, the work of James Ortiz and the puppet team, combined with the animation led by Aslan Almukhambetov, brought him to life with incredible movement and detail.

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Project Hail Mary is now showing in cinemas.

Authors

Patrick CremonaSenior Film Writer

Patrick Cremona writes about films for TopMob, covering new releases in theaters and on streaming platforms. He’s been with the site since October 2019, and during that time he’s interviewed many famous actors and reviewed all kinds of movies.

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2026-03-19 15:34