Boba Fett: Jeremy Bulloch
by Scott Chernoff, from Star Wars Insider 49 (p. 19)

Even standing amid the intimidating group of mercenary bounty hunters gathered on Darth Vader's Super Star Destroyer, Boba Fett stood out from the pack. It wasn't just that Vader singled him out for a special warning--"No disintegrations." The striking costume, designed by Ralph McQuarrie and Joe Johnston, obviously made an impact, but there was something more mysterious about Fett, something in the way he moved.

"I think the secret to playing Boba Fett--if you can say I played it--is the less you do, the better," said Jeremy Bulloch, the actor who indeed did play the galaxy's most notorious free agent in The Empire Strikes Back and again in Return of the Jedi. "There is no point in Boba Fett waving his gun around and saying, 'Look at me.' He was very cool, and he didn't move much. I thought of Boba Fett as Clint Eastwood in a suit of armor."

But while Bulloch is quick to give the suit credit for the character's popularity, it's clear from listening to him speak that he put a lot of thought into what could have been a throw-away character but ended up becoming one of the Star Wars saga's most enduring--and unexpected--icons.

"Number one, he has respect from people because he captured Han Solo," Bulloch told the Insider. "He answers Darth Vader back, and he also has a fantastic costume--and I was lucky because I fit the suit."

Yes, Bulloch clinched the part in Empire for precisely that reason. He was invited to audition by his half-brother, Empire associate producer Robert Watts. "He said, 'Come see if you fit one of the suits,'" Bulloch recalled. "They were looking for people to fit the costume. Who knows--it could have been a stunt man playing it."

But it couldn't, really--and that's why Bulloch was asked to reprise the role in Return of the Jedi. Over the years, Boba Fett (who was actually introduced prior to Empire in a cartoon made for 1978's "Star Wars Holiday Special") became so popular among Star Wars fans that he was not only given a prominent afterlife in the expanded universe of comics and novels, but also added to the Star Wars Special Edition, where he was played by ILM droid operators Don Bies and Nelson Hall. (ILM's Mark Austin played him for A New Hope.)

"They were trying to make him a ladies man," Bulloch said of the new footage. "If it had been me, I would have said, 'Can I perhaps grab her by the chin and push her away?' Because he becomes vulnerable. I don't think he would let his guard down. But I was really pleased with the re-release because they put Boba Fett in Star Wars as well, just as a presence."

As with Fett's insertion into A New Hope, the character's announced appearance in Star Wars: Episode II (due in 2002) speaks to the vast following Boba Fett captured, seemingly without trying. The actor said the character's popularity is due largely to all the questions that never get answered during his brief time on screen. "People ask, 'What's that beneath the kneepad? What about those little things in your pockets? There's so much gadgetry to him--he's a walking arsenal, really."

Carrying that arsenal around the Empire set was not easy, the actor recalled. "The costume was very hot, because it was extremely heavy," he said. "And in the carbon freezing chamber, there was steam coming up out of the floor. I was next to David Prowse, and our helmets were taken off every three minutes because it was so hot. We were dripping."

The legendary helmet posed other problems, too. "I remember nearly trodding on Darth Vader's cape, coming down the steps into the carbon freezing chamber, because I could hardly see," Bulloch said. "I trod on one of the guys playing an Ugnaught. I trod on his foot, and there was a yelp--I thought it was a real Ugnaught noise. The biggest challenge was to not fall over, because I was a bit top-heavy with the jet pack."

Still, despite the difficulties, Bulloch managed to stay true to his vision of Fett as High Plains Drifter. "Occasionally, I would make a movement, but a little one, because the less you do, the stronger the character is," he explained. "So I would just stand with my hip one way, and I'd cradle the gun a certain way. He's aware that something could happen any time, so he's quick with the gun. It's ready cocked. He knows exactly what's going on behind him. He may be moving slowly, but he's deadly when it comes to that sudden movement."

During Bulloch's four weeks on the Empire set, the actor was also pressed into service for the Empire itself. "One day, I was sitting around in the Boba Fett outfit, and I was asked if I would mind playing this Imperial officer, because there was nobody to play the part. I went into wardrobe, got dressed in an Imperial Officer's uniform, and played this part who now has a name in the Decipher card game, Lieutenant Sheckil. It was in the scene in Cloud City where Princess Leia says 'Luke, it's a trap'--I drag her away. Moments earlier, you see me as Boba Fett shooting at Mark Hamill."

In the years since Jedi, Bulloch has stayed connected with Fett and his fans by becoming one of the most active and in-demand Star Wars stars at fan conventions worldwide. "The fans are so polite," he said. "They're amazing. People are always saying, 'Thank you for what you did,' and I always say, 'Don't thank me--thank George Lucas for asking me to do it.'"

Yet Bulloch, 55, is a hero to sci-fi fans for more than just the role Lucas gave him. He's also a convention regular for his two episodes of Dr. Who ("The Space Museum" and "The Time Warrior"), his co-starring role as Edward of Wickham in the British series Robin of Sherwood, and his role as Q's assistant Smithers in two James Bond movies, Octopussy and For Your Eyes Only. (He played a different part in an earlier Bond flick, The Spy Who Loved Me.)

Bulloch--the son of a mushroom farmer, a father of three, and now a grandfather of three--began studying acting at the age of 12, moving from Sommerset to Sussex to theater school in London. "We concentrated on drama, fencing, stage fighting, and even ballet--imagine me in a pair of tights," he said.

The training paid off: he's worked steadily in film and television ever since, with other notable projects including the UK soap opera The Newcomers and the films Mark, Queen of Scots and Swing Kids, among many others. He recently appeared in the miniseries Aristocrats, is slated to star in an Australian sci-fi film tentatively titled Master Race, did a CD-ROM roleplaying game with Kenny Baker (R2-D2) and David Prowse, and is awaiting word on First Frontier, the sci-fi pilot he made with Empire's Admiral Ozzel, Michael Sheard.

Yet even as Boba Fett, he's still something of an enigma to most moviegoers. "I was having a meal with all the guys after a convention in North Carolina," Bulloch recalled. "A woman asked if we would all sign her menu. So we all signed our names and characters--Darth Vader, Chewbacca, R2-D2, Wicket, and me--and gave it back to her. Suddenly I hear this voice behind me say, 'Who the heck is Boba Fett?'

"She knew all the other characters, but Boba Fett, she hadn't a clue. Fans know him, but the general public doesn't. So in a way, it's quite nice, because he's still a mystery."