There’s a power struggle brewing under the twin suns of Tatooine.
What was the biggest difference about how you wanted to approach this version of Boba Fett?
I think back in the day, I didn’t know what I was doing.
Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen on ‘The Book of Boba Fett’.Francois Duhamel/Lucasfilm
It was 20 years ago when I was doing Jango Fett.
I think I had too much fun.
So this time, [I was] a little bit more experienced.
I had to draw a lot on our crew who wereStar Warsnerds and know all about the history.
MING-NA WEN:And me!
So it was having this pool of talented people around us that made us perform a lot better.
We wanted to focus on the work and just keep things moving.
We were one big family.
WEN:It was a family.
It’s a tribe.
MORRISON:She’s Grandma, and I’m Grandpa.
WEN:But we’ve very good-looking grandparents.
A lot of these first two episodes takes place in Jabba’s palace.
Ming-Na,when we spoke before, you talked about totally geeking out on that set.
What do you remember most about filming there?
WEN:So much.
First of all, the details were impeccable.
There are just these little Easter eggs they put in.
The throne room moves like it’s supposed to.
There is a trapdoor.
There are all these creatures and characters that have come back from the past.
MORRISON:That was cool when [the platform we were on] got dragged forward.
WEN:I loved pushing that button.
I would constantly push that little button that opens the trapdoor.
It was so cool.
MORRISON:And not only that throne room, but the sets are so much more dynamic now.
They bring them to life.
WEN:And animatronics.
The mayor was ridiculous, right?
MORRISON:He was a poor guy from props, remember?
He had to sit in that outfit and remember the lines.
WEN:For hours!
In these first two episodes, we see a lot of flashback scenes with Boba and the Tusken Raiders.
There’s not a lot of dialogue.
Tem, how did you want to approach those scenes where you’re not doing much talking?
MORRISON:Yeah, that was all me.
I threw all my dialogue out the door.
I said, “I’m not speaking, I’m going to be silent.”
[Laughs] But yeah, I didn’t want to say too much.
I think it was Ralph Emerson that said, “The ocular dialect needs no translation.”
WEN:Now you’re being impressive.
MORRISON:That was pretty good, I thought.
WEN:It was very good.
I’m very impressed.
The action and the stunt choreography are also such a huge part of this show.
For it to look good and work, you have to know camera angles.
You have to know rhythm, how to punch, where to punch.
I had an incredible stunt double, Ming Qiu.
She’s a wushu master, and I’ve been with her for over 10 years now.
She’s been my trainer, my confidante, my ball-buster…
I love her death.
She’s my incredible mentor.
I work closely with the stunt boys.
I was blessed that growing up, we have our traditional Maori dances.
We have one of our weapons, which is a staff, and we call it the taiaha.
I was blessed that I was able to utilize some of those skills.
But again, our stunt team did a great job.
If there’s anything too dangerous, we had a double on hand just to do the dangerous stuff.
[Laughs] I’m still recovering.
