When he came onboard for Return of the Jedi, Bulloch had even less time in front of the camera. "I was there for eight days standing next to Jabba the Hutt, and in order to stand there on achy legs and look attentive, I used have these imaginary conversations with Jabba. I couldn't take the jetpack off, so they had this wooden board with arms for me to lean on and rest, and I'd say 'So Jabba, did you go out last night?'"

For fans, the bounty hunter's appearance in the Jedi also proved to be the most controversial, namely, the scene in which he apparently dies in the belly of the great and powerful Sarlacc. "Well, some people say he escaped," notes Bulloch. "But I think, dramatically, George needed him to die, so that was the end of him."

Bulloch is also quick to acknowledge the impact his character has had on some of the more current character additions to the Star Wars universe.

"Yes, Darth Maul's very similar -- not so many lines, shrouded in mystery, and I think this is the secret to the characters that become popular, because nothing is finalized. And I think that you're always fortunate in anything you do. You never know when you're going to work as an actor, so you just the play the part the best you can. People say, 'Well, haven't you moved on?' And of course I have. I worked and still work, but I'm very proud to have played Boba Fett, even though it meant wearing a helmet to cover my face."

Recently, Star Wars producer Rick McCallum announced that Fett would make return appearances in Episodes 2 and 3, though Bulloch as yet does not know who will next assay the role. "I'd still love to play it again, but I don't know if I could," he explains. "I'd like my son Robby to play it -- he's a good actor, though it probably won't be his lifetime career -- but it would be a lovely thing for the young Bulloch to play the young Fett. It would be nice for me to be a Mandalorian commander or something.

"I never worked with George Lucas as a director, but he is an absolute delight," he continues. "I hadn't seen him in seventeen years, and then I bumped into him onset in Leaveston, and he was exactly the same, nice, like a sort of college student with the checked shirt and jeans. It was a lovely atmosphere, like a family returning."

While Boba Fett may be the black sheep of that family, he is indeed well-regarded. For Bulloch, the role, though it seemed minuscule at the time, provided him with a wealth of memories and the adoration of audiences for generations to come.

"I always say that there's no such thing as a small part. I had four lines. Sure, there's a difference in doing that and playing Hamlet, which I did when I was nineteen. But no one ever remembers that. They say 'You played Boba Fett.' It's the smallest part in dialogue I ever played. I'll never forget the time when I was working against blue screen, and we got to the part where the carbonite is going up into Slave 1, and I was supposed to turn to one of the guards and say 'Put Captain Solo in the cargo hold.' When we did the scene, I promptly said 'Put Captain Cargo in the Solo hold.' And Irvin Kirshner said 'Cut, that's fine.' No one had heard me in the helmet. I had four lines, and I conked that one up."

Talk one on one with Jeremy Bulloch at the Official Boba Fett Fanclub Site.

Many thanks to Jeremy Bulloch for his good-natured patience and kindness throughout the completion of this interview.

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