Talking with Rolling Stone, Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen discussed their hit show The Book of Boba Fett and Morrison the differences between playing Boba and his father Jango in 2002’s Attack of the Clones.
RS: Temuera, aside from the passage of time, how would you say your performance as Boba is different from what you were doing as Jango back in the prequels?
TM: Well, as Jango, I didn’t know what I was doing. We shot that in Sydney in the year 2000. I just remember having so much fun, and I was shooting another kind of Australian low-budget detective story at the same time, so I couldn’t change certain things. I still had scenes to shoot, pop over to Star Wars and do some scenes, and then pop back to this other thing that I was working on, which was with Rebecca Gibney, Ihaka. There was just things like my hair, for example, and I had too many curls — Jango looked too soft. And so having this opportunity to come and do Boba Fett, play the son, I just wanted to be so much better. I think I used to kill George Lucas, because he’d be trying to shoot a scene, and I’m out there and it’s raining and someone’s got an umbrella. So I start singing that song: [doing his best Gene Kelly] “I’m singin’ in the rain, I’m singin’ in the rain, and having a wonderful time on the set of Star Wars!” I think I drove them all nuts, and George was very, very nice to me to say, ‘OK, Tem, stop singing now, I’d like to do a mid-shot or a close-up.’ I think with Boba, he’s got a lot more grit, because he’s got a lot more hurt in him. I just had that strong image of Daniel Logan [as young Boba] holding [Jango’s] helmet [in Attack of the Clones]. I’m not quite sure where my head is at that stage, but it’s either in the helmet or it’s fallen out of the helmet. But there’s just the strong image where I sort of felt sorry for the kid looking at his father’s helmet like this: [takes off his hat and holds it out like young Boba holding the decapitated Jango’s helmet].
MNW: And then he puts his forehead to it.
TM: And so the poor kid had to carry on with life, with no mama. I didn’t even see an auntie or an uncle around! It was going to be tough for this little kid. So I think I just wanted to make him [have] a little bit more a bit more of a chip on his shoulder, that he’s had to bring his own self up, and he’s had to learn the hard way by himself — the hard way or the highway — so he’s managed to survive. It was kind of amazing. Back in the year 2000, I didn’t know I was going to be playing Boba Fett back then. I remember going to all these conventions with Jeremy Bullock, who played the actual, real Boba Fett, and there’s Daniel Logan, who played the young Boba Fett. And I always signed ‘Jango Fett,’ so it still amazes me now that when I sign an autograph, I do ‘Boba Fett.’ But I wanted to do a good job. I wanted to fix up some of the things I didn’t take too seriously with Jango Fett and create a dynamic, mysterious character.
