The Book of Boba Fett marks the fan favorite bounty hunter’s first starring vehicle in the Star Wars franchise, but in doing so it’s had to expand his characterization beyond what we saw of him in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Following on from his return in The Mandalorian season two, Fett now frequently removes his helmet and armor, while also being a lot more talkative than he used to be.
While chatting to NME alongside co-star Ming-Na Wen, who plays Boba’s right-hand woman Fennec Shand, the new Daimyo of Mos Espa Temuera Morrison admitted that he thinks Fett “talks too much” in his spinoff show. So much so that he’s frequently had words with the showmakers to cut back on his dialogue.
“I was not very successful, I was hoping not to say as much as I have already in the first two episodes,” Morrison revealed. “I speak far too much. In fact, in the beginning, I was trying to pass my lines on to Ming-Na [Wen]. I said: ‘Excuse me director, I really feel that Ming-Na should say these lines, ’cause I wanna stay mysterious. I wanna stay quiet.'”
However, Wen thinks that Morrison’s objections weren’t entirely to do with his feelings about his character’s integrity and more an attempt to cut back on the number of lines he had to learn. The actress joked:
“He wasn’t just trying to be a very generous actor — which he is — he was just trying to parlay some of the work to me (laughs).”
Morrison went on to recall a time when EP Jon Favreau was away in Atlanta and he implored writer Noah Kloor to cut back on all the “paragraphs” Boba had to say.
“Sometimes, I’d say [to Favreau], ‘I think this is too much, I think this is too much,'” he said. “I said: ‘Noah, this scene tomorrow. I’m talking too much! This Boba Fett doesn’t talk this much. Look, I’ve got all these paragraphs. I think we should get rid of it and Jon’s going to Atlanta so don’t tell him!'”
However, Favreau ultimately ordered that Morrison had to perform all the dialogue in the script.
He continued, “Then, that morning on set, I get a call from Atlanta: ‘Jon wants you to say all that dialogue. We’ll cut it out later.’ (laughs) So he was even keeping an eye on us from all areas.”
In the end, Morrison understands why Fett’s less taciturn now than he once was, as the necessity of giving him his own show means more has to be revealed about him. Still, he can’t shake the feeling Boba’s become a bit of a blabbermouth.
“I had to start talking I guess,” Morrison said. “We had to fill in the gaps and give out a little bit of information… But yes, I think I did speak a bit too much.
While Morrison clearly doesn’t have an axe to grind against Favreau or anything, his comments recall Mark Hamill’s misgivings about Luke Skywalker’s characterization in The Last Jedi. On the whole, though, The Book of Boba Fett has managed to avoid the controversy of Episode 8 so far. It seems fans aren’t as bothered about the anti-hero yapping away all the time as Morrison is.
