Temuera Morrison Reveals The Big Difference Between Boba Fett And Jango Fett
Sure, this tracks.
Just about every Star Wars project that came after the original trilogy has been divisive among fans, but even to many who didn’t care for the prequels, Temuera Morrison proved a worthy addition to the franchise as Jango Fett. He became irreplaceable not only as Jango, but as Jango’s clone/son Boba. Now Morrison is revealing what, for him, separates his performance as Jango from that of Boba. In the words of Ryan Reynolds’s Deadpool, the difference is “maximum effort.”
Entertainment Weekly recently talked to Temuera Morrison, Emily Swallow, Giancarlo Esposito, and Carl Weathers about their time on The Mandalorian. In describing the differences between originating Jango Fett in 2002’s Attack of the Clones and coming back as Boba for the flagship Disney+ series, Morrison said he took the latter job much more seriously. “I was having too much fun,” said of his time as Jango. “I got to dress up, wear the helmet, and sing a few songs for George [Lucas], go like this and people would fall over, and fight Obi-Wan Kenobi. Man, I was just having so much fun.” He said once it was time to come back for The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, “I thought I better, you know, really put the work in this time, and do a little bit more research, and make the most of the opportunity because sometimes they don’t come by again.” You can watch the whole interview below.
It might seem tempting for Star Wars prequels fans to get a little miffed at Temuera Morrison for saying he put more effort into his later work, but regardless of your opinion on any of his work in the franchise, what he says makes sense. Part of what made Jango popular in Attack of the Clones–just like Boba in the original trilogy–was his intimidating, but dialogue-light presence. Jango certainly has more dialogue in Attack of the Clones than Boba does in the original trilogy, but then again Boba probably has more dialogue in his first scene with Din Djarin in The Mandalorian than he does in all of Episode II. Of course he had to work harder.
In fact, this could speak to exactly why there was a lot of negative fan reaction to The Book of Boba Fett. The character Temuera Morrison played in the Disney+ series is not one that was expected by George Lucas or anyone else to become as popular as he did. How did he gain that popularity? Well, by looking cool, sure. But also by being unlike just about every other Star Wars character you can think of; good guy or bad guy. He said little, he looked tough; he was on the sidelines and never wanted to be on anything but the sidelines. He harbored no grand ideals about rebellions or the Force or doing “the right thing.” To craft a story focusing on him necessarily had to change some, if not all, of those things. The Book of Boba Fett was arguably doomed before anyone even settled on a name, a plot, or even the skeleton of a concept. As soon as someone said “let’s make a Boba Fett solo series,” it couldn’t–in a sense–possibly be a Boba Fett solo series.
Of course, you could argue that they could’ve just let Temuera Morrison play a remorseless, coldblooded killer as a lead protagonist. Why didn’t they? Well, a lot of Star Wars fans will no doubt lay the blame on Disney’s doorstep for not having the guts. But if you think George Lucas was about to make that kind of movie/series, you’ve been smoking too many death sticks.
