You Actually Can See Boba Fett’s Face In Star Wars’ Original Trilogy
Jeremy Bulloch, who played Boba Fett for most of the character's time in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, also plays an Imperial Officer on the Cloud City of Bespin.
Long before Temuera Morrison played the doomed Jango Fett in 2002’s Attack of the Clones, the man who was the first Boba Fett for most Star Wars fans was the late Jeremy Bulloch. He was the man in Fett’s suit except for one scene in Empire, when a scheduling conflict necessitated stuntman John Morton play the bounty hunter. Thanks to that conflict, you get to actually see Bulloch’s face unmasked toward the end of Empire, when he plays Imperial Officer Lieutenant Sheckil.
The Boba Fett actor’s face can be seen in the first of many Star Wars sequels right after Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) infiltrates the cloud city of Bespin. Along with Lando (Billy Dee Williams), who has yet to turn on the Imperials at this point, Sheckil is at the head of a procession of stormtroopers and their prisoners — Luke’s allies. As Leia (Carrie Fisher) tries to warn Luke of the trap waiting for him, it’s Bulloch’s Sheckil who pulls Leia away.
Sadly, we lost the first actor to play Boba Fett in a Star Wars movie in 2020. Nine years earlier, speaking with Gizmodo, Bulloch said he was shocked when Attack of the Clones revealed his signature character was a clone. Asked what he thought the bounty hunter might do if/when he escaped the Sarlacc (remember, this was long before The Mandalorian‘s second season finally confirmed he was canonically still alive), Bulloch joined in with a lot of hungry fans who thought he should hunt down Samuel L. Jackson‘s Mace Windu and get revenge for the death of Jango.
While Bulloch was the first Boba Fett for many Star Wars fans — depending on what you count as the character’s first appearance — he’s arguably the third guy to play the bounty hunter. The character was first unveiled at a 1978 parade in San Anselmo, California, when assistant film editor Duwayne Dunham wore the armor because he was the only person available who was the right size. A few months later it was Canadian actor Don Francks who voiced him in the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special.
Not to mention that you might actually go so far as to say that while Jeremy Bulloch was the third Boba Fett actor, another Star Wars actor tied with him for third. While it was Bulloch in the armor, the guy who originally provided the bounty hunter’s voice was Jason Wingreen; that is, before his voice was swapped out with Morrison’s in the 2004 home release.
For a guy with so few lines, Boba Fett has been played by a whole lot of actors in Star Wars. If you include video games, audio dramas, new shots added to the Star Wars special editions, and other media, 17 actors played Boba Fett. Including — and this may genuinely blow your mind — this guy:
That’s right: Ed Begley, Jr. — one of the outwardly nerdiest, granola-crunchiest actors in the world — once played Boba Fett. George Lucas sold NPR the radio rights to Star Wars for $1, and they adapted all three films into radio dramas, though cuts in funding meant Begley’s time as Boba Fett had to wait. Alan Rosenberg voiced him in the Empire adaptation, but it was Begley doing his voice in NPR’s version of Return of the Jedi (which wasn’t released until 1996).
