?I did rely a lot on the makeup,? Morrison says of defining Fett. ?I worked with Brian Sipe. When we started to work once things got underway, and we decided I would play Boba Fett and we got over all the excitement, we actually had to sit in the chair and start doing the actual work and the creating, and look at where he?s been and his past. So I spent a lot of the time sitting in the makeup chair, watching what was being applied, and then things just started to happen organically.? Part of that organic evolution of the character would be Fett?s voice, with a gravelly and coarse tone that?s decidedly different than Morrison?s take on Jango.
A scene from The Mandalorian "Chapter 14: The Tragedy"
?It was a conscious choice,? Morrison says. ?I thought, every now and then he hit some tonal qualities where, hey, he has been scarred. He has been affected internally, as well. So without sounding too false I wanted to bring a little gravel in there to give it a bit of timbre.? And there was another influence on Fett?s voice and Morrison?s performance.
The actor recalls that when growing up in New Zealand, his father loved Westerns. There would be midnight showings on TV, and Dad would wake the kids to come watch. ?We were allowed to get up in the middle of the night and share these cowboy movies from Hollywood with him,? he says. ?With The Mandalorian, I guess I?m getting at the fact that it has this cowboy feel. A Western feel. A gunslinger feel.? And in working with Morrison, Favreau and Filoni often referenced classic Western actors like Lee Van Cleef, Richard Harrison, and Clint Eastwood as touch points. ?You?ve got all these great actors from the cowboy days, which I could relate to in a way, from growing up with my dad loving cowboy films. So we?re bringing that Western feel to the character, as well.?
Before every shoot, Morrison would meet with Favreau and Filoni, diving deep into Boba?s motivations, with Filoni in particular offering valuable backstory. Indeed, Filoni and George Lucas told several tales about young Boba in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, particularly his first steps into the underworld after the death of his father. ?It?s just a wonderful process and it?s so rewarding. And they include me, as well, if I?ve got ideas and suggestions,? Morrison says. ?I got as much information as I could, especially from Dave Filoni, in terms of Boba?s relationship with other characters and some of the history, which he all has in his mind. He?s like a walking encyclopedia, that guy.?
A scene from The Mandalorian "Chapter 14: The Tragedy"
In ?The Tragedy,? Fett and Shand end up joining forces with the Mandalorian to battle stormtroopers in a stylistically energized, visceral, and often brutal sequence. (It is, indeed, an unmistakably Robert Rodriguez episode through and through.) Morrison?s Fett, in particular, is all clenched teeth and anger. Part of this feel stems from Morrison?s own culture. ?I come from a warrior background in New Zealand,? he says. ?I?m a Maori and I?ve been trained. It gives me something to draw on. I was trained as a young boy back in New Zealand in the art of our haka [warrior dance]. ?Ha? is the breath, and ?ka? is the fire. I?m using my warrior background as a source of energy and as a source of confidence.?
Boba Fett in The Mandalorian
Morrison connected with Rodriguez on the shoot ? even sharing guitar chords on down time ? and worked together to fully realize Boba as a force to be reckoned with. ?Within Boba, if he decided to erupt, he?s like a small volcano,? Morrison says. ?And Robert was drawing a little bit of that out of me, as well. So when we do those fight sequences, there is a bit of rawness there, there is a bit of brutality there.? Fett?s weapon of choice in ?The Tragedy? is a staff, which he uses to greatly satisfying effect in smashing stormtrooper helmets. If you were wondering, that is, in fact, Morrison wielding it, as he?s fluent in the Maori art of stick fighting. ?I was able to bring that into this production. Robert could see that I could use the weapon and swing the stick around. In our own culture, we have a staff that?s called a taiaha. I?d been trained in that as a young boy, as well,? he says. ?I?m trying to push it into a nice place. You don?t want to get this guy upset. He?ll rip you to pieces.?
Boba Fett in The Mandalorian
Still, as dangerous and deadly as Boba Fett is in ?The Tragedy,? he also emerges as something else: sympathetic and honorable. While bounty hunters aren?t necessarily villains, the Fett of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi was definitely an antagonist. Here, Favreau, Filoni, Rodriguez, and Morrison accomplish a great feat in giving us more of Boba?s background ? his father was indeed a Mandalorian, and that armor is rightly his ? while showing that he has a code. When Fett gets his armor back, he doesn?t run away. He continues to help the Mandalorian, promising to fulfill his debt that the Child, abducted by dark troopers, will be returned safely. In these moments, Fett becomes less a volcano, more a cowboy hero. ?I think that?s where I come into it,? Morrison says. ?In bringing that humanity and keeping it kind of simple. Giving him values.?
