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| More than just a 19 day wonder. |
In The Making of The Empire Strikes Back, J. W. Rinzler
records that Robert Watts, who served as a production supervisor on Star Wars,
returned to serve as associate producer on the sequel. The production was hit by all manner of
setbacks and delays, including a fire at Elstree Studios in England that delayed
Stanley Kubrick from finishing The Shining.
Faced with unavailable Studio facilities, and with location-work in
Finse hit by the worst weather in a century, director Irvin Kershner, and the
entire production staff of Lucasfilm, found themselves struggling to make up
for lost time from the first day of principle photography.
One of the ways Robert helped the production save time was
by calling on his half brother, Jeremy Bulloch.
“There was talk of this new character—not a big character, but a new
one,” Bulloch said. He arrived at the
studio, not knowing what to expect, and was fitted into a costume. Then he was pushed onto the set, where George
Lucas walked up and told him, “You look fantastic.” After speaking with the helmet-wearing
Bulloch for a few minutes, Lucas told him, “As far as I’m concerned, you’re
fine.”
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| Who is this masked man? |
Bulloch had started working as an actor at age ten. By the time he strapped on Boba Fett’s armor
he was thirty-five, and had appeared on the stage, on TV, and in a few
movies. After working for nineteen days
for Lucasfilm, Bulloch hung up his helmet, returned home, and resumed the
actor’s life, waiting for someone to call with another potential role. As he had worn a mask, and played such a
small part, he had no reason to believe anything more would ever come from his
work on The Empire Strikes Back.
But the movie proved enormously successful, and the masked
bounty hunter intrigued fans. They
wondered how Boba Fett had acquired his unique armor. They yearned to see him at his best, using
all the weapons and gadgets that he didn’t get to use in Empire. They imagined all the battles and adventures
he had participated in. He was certainly
a smart character, capable of making his own way through a dangerous
universe. After all, Han Solo may have outsmarted
the entire Imperial fleet, but Boba Fett guessed at Han’s ruse, and tracked the
Millennium Falcon all the way to Cloud City.
(Han Solo didn’t even notice he was being followed!) And so Jeremy Bulloch was asked to don the
mask and armor for the following film, The Return of the Jedi.
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| "Let's find out." |
Even though his face was covered, and even if another actor
voiced his lines, Boba Fett remains the most recognized character that Bulloch
ever portrayed. Over thirty years after
he first strapped on his armor, Jeremy Bulloch travels the world, appearing at
all manner of Star Wars and Science Fiction conventions. His website sports photographs of all the
places he has visited, from his home country of England, to America and Canada,
and other European countries such as Switzerland. In return, he’s given back to fandom, even going
so far as joining the 501st Legion, a network of fans that don Star
Wars costumes to benefit charities.
Jeremy Bulloch’s example reminds me that even your efforts go unrecognzied ninety-nine
times out of a hundred, there’s still that one
time you can make a real impact on others’ lives. But of course, you won't know which one is the important one. You have to do all one hundred,
never knowing which of them will prove most important to others. Life may never reward you with riches or
fame. But who knows all that you may
accomplish, if you work hard, and do so with the intention of benefitting
others?
Dragon Dave
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