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Behind the Mask Actors

Jeremy Bulloch

Born: February 16, 1945
Died: December 17, 2020
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Boba Fett in "Empire" and "Jedi" – The Original

2022-06-26T22:42:23-07:00

Credited as Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

He also had a cameo as Lieutenant Sheckil, the Imperial Officer in The Empire Strikes Back who uses Princess Leia as a human shield. He also had a cameo in "Revenge of the Sith" as Captain Colton, an Alderaanian Pilot on Tantive IV.

First Impression

"The first time I ever saw the costume, it wasn't Boba Fett. It was completely white. He was going to be a 'super stormtrooper.' [Assistant Film Editor] Duwayne Dunham modelled it so we could all have a look at it, but the suit didn't quite fit. At that point I'd never managed to give [my half-brother] Jeremy a job on film. So I rang him up and said 'If the suit fits, the part's yours.' He came in and it fit."
-- Robert Watts, Associate Producer, as quoted in Star Wars Insider #101 (May/June 2008)

Trivia

"I got into the costume and I put the helmet on. There were lots of little gadgets and knee pads and the boots had two little jets on the toes. I thought, 'This looks rather good!' There was a jet pack, too. 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!'"
-- Jeremy Bulloch, as quoted in Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazine #21 (Winter 1994)

"The character was explained [by Lucas] a great deal: what sort of person he was, deadly but very methodical in movement and fast, even though you never saw him move quickly."
-- Jeremy Bulloch, as quoted in Star Wars Insider #30 (1996)

"Occasionally, I would make a movement, but a little one, because the less you do, the stronger the character is. 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... I thought of Boba Fett as Clint Eastwood in a suit of armor."
-- Jeremy Bulloch, as quoted in Star Wars Insider #49 (May/June 2000)

"I think the secret to playing Boba Fett -- if you can say I played (him) -- is the less you do, the better. 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 always thought of Boba Fett as Clint Eastwood in a suit of armor."
-- Jeremy Bulloch, as quoted in Star Wars Insider #49 (May/June 2000)

"They went back to America to do a lot of the sound stuff. I'm not going to stand and say 'Why didn't you use my voice?' If I used my voice as it is now, it wouldn't be right. They used a voice similar to the one I tried to do. As I see it, the character has his mask and his mystery. It doesn't matter who does the voice."
-- Jeremy Bulloch, as quoted in Starlog #50 (Sept 1981)

"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."
-- Jeremy Bulloch, as quoted in Star Wars Insider #49 (May/June 2000)

"The costume was very hot, because it was extremely heavy. 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."
-- Jeremy Bulloch, as quoted in Star Wars Insider #49 (May/June 2000)

"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."
-- Jeremy Bulloch, as quoted in Star Wars: Boba Fett magazine

"He admits he flubbed one of those lines. He was asked to say: 'Put Captain Solo in the cargo hold.' But what came out was: 'Put captain cargo in the solo hold.' 'Wrong line -- I'd messed it up,' Bulloch says. But it wasn't anything that a little post-production couldn't fix."
-- CNN interview with Jeremy Bulloch (May 11, 1999)

"I was sitting down waiting to do a Boba Fett scene -- the one where I was firing in Cloud City at Luke Skywalker -- and they said, 'Jeremy, Jeremy, quick, get changed.' I went to wardrobe and they took the Boba Fett outfit off and put me in this Imperial Officer's outfit. There was no one available to play the part, so that's what it was." -- Vanity Fair interview with Jeremy Bulloch (2010)

"It was like the bikini from hell. Like steel, not steel but hard plastic, and if you stood behind me you could see straight to Florida. You'll have to ask Boba Fett about that." -- Carrie Fisher aka Princess Leia referring to Jeremy Bulloch in Return of the Jedi

Jeremy Bulloch was 6 feet tall.

Popularity

"He's a villain, but he's not a villain. He's cool. He's can answer Darth Vader back and he gets respect for that. It's just the way he kind of hanging around in the background and holding the gun in a certain way. They just go 'Aw, cool, Boba Fett!'" -- Interview with Jeremy Bulloch for Entertainment Weekly (2012)

Interviews


Last updated: June 26, 2022
Article ID: 84