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| A selection of character reference shots taken of Jeremy Bulloch as Boba Fett within Han and Leia's Bespin living area set at Elstree, during April 1979. |
Well known British TV and film actor Jeremy Bulloch was invited to audition for the role of Fett by his half brother Robert Watts, Associate Producer, whilst early filming for Empire was already under way. They were looking for someone who could fit in the already created costume and Jeremy would prove tailor made for it. Bulloch, upon seeing the costume for the first tests, wearing it and then walking up and down in different directions, soon realizes that there is something very special about the character and the way he looks. As far as Lucas was concerned, Bulloch’s inhabiting of Boba’s suit was “Fantastic”, and he was soon hired to play the role- on the first day before shooting with the bounty hunters, Irvin Kershner (with Lucas) would give the actor more information on how to play the important new member of the STAR WARS saga, telling him: “This character has to be a very cool customer. Imagine you’re walking down the street in a Western movie. He’s quick, but stealthy.” The already dangerous looking costume that Bulloch wears more than helps set the tone as to how to play the part, recalling to STAR WARS INSIDER in 2001: “I thought of Fett as Clint Eastwood in a suit of armour.” With filming of his character’s scenes beginning (though he is listed in the script, Boba Fett’s is never referred to by name in Empire and on the set he would simply be named as 'Bounty Hunter' throughout filming by the majority of the cast and crew), Bulloch is at first nervous and in awe of everything going on around him, and on his first day is worried that he might be replaced if he doesn’t look right when seen in screen dailies. Fortunately, this would not be the case, with his couple of days work soon turning into four weeks spread across Empire’s filming at Elstree (in the costume for each day of shooting bar one due to a prior London theatrical commitment.
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| Jeremy Bulloch in a publicity image circa 1981. |
Due to the heat of both the studio lights and the actors own internal perspiration, Fett’s helmet would come off after completion of a take as it would mist up inside, with Bulloch having to look down to see his feet when walking across the set (he would fall over in the costume at least once during principal photography). For the character’s voice, Bulloch practiced various ideas, including one that was very mechanical sounding, but in the end it was decided that Fett’s voice would be dubbed in post production - the actor would later state that the finished voice (provided by US actor Jason Wingreen) was very similar to something he had tried to attempt with the character on set at one point.
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| The classic image of Boba Fett used in numerous merchandise and magazines over the last forty years. |
Talking to the official LUCASFILM magazine, Bulloch later recalled one of the first UK costume tests of the bounty hunter’s outfit that he'd be involved with: “There were lots of little gadgets and knee pads and the boots had two little jets on the toes... I found what I thought was my hair so I put it on underneath the helmet, hanging down. When I came out to show George Lucas, he said, 'What's that funny thing sticking out of your helmet?' I said, 'Isn't it the character's hair?' 'No,' said George, 'It's a Wookiee scalp. It's supposed to be tied to your belt.'" Into filming (in which the actor would get a chance to see his KENNER action figure!), he recalled playing the part to the STAR WARS: BOBA FETT magazine special: “Boba Fett moves slowly, deliberately, but you know he's quick when he needs to be. He might stand there not moving for 40 minutes, but when he does move, that one movement will say so much more than a lot of running around and waving a gun at people. I always thought of him as Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars. That was my model. Boba Fett always cradles his gun just so. You do those little things to give the character dimension, and you just hope people notice.”
Though previously seen in the infamous The Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978, the OFFICIAL STAR WARS FAN CLUB BANTHA TRACKS magazine would give a proper introduction to Fett in their Issue 5 Summer 1979 issue: “Not much is known about Boba Fett. He wears part of the uniform of the Imperial Shocktroopers, warriors from the olden time. Shocktroopers came from the far side of the galaxy and there aren't many of them left. They were wiped out by the Jedi Knights during the Clone Wars. Whether he was a Shocktrooper or not is unknown. He is the best bounty hunter in the galaxy, and cares little for whom he works as long as they pay.”
With a notable career in the film and television industry for over three decades (genre credits including numerous Doctor Who episodes of the classic series, Blake's 7 and The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, to name just a few), extra Peter Roy, having previously appeared as a Yavin base Rebel engineer in the original Star Wars, was also, prior to Jeremy Bulloch, one of the few people originally fitted in the Boba Fett costume when it came to the UK before filming began on Empire, but due to additional work commitments was unable to continue and therefore Alan Harris (who also played a Stormtrooper and was a body cast for Harrison Ford in the film) stepped in for white suit costume tests until Bulloch was eventually cast in the part. *
*Note: this info on Peter Roy as Boba originally came via Jeremy Bulloch himself.
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