Temuera Morrison brought his Maori culture to Boba Fett and it couldn’t have been a better move

Temuera Morrison has revealed how he shaped the role of Boba Fett in The Mandalorian.

Last Friday, The Mandalorian brought us a completely new look at Boba Fett. It was the same Boba Fett we’ve known and loved over the decades. But yes, time has passed. And as such, the Boba Fett who survived the Sarlacc pit isn’t the same bounty hunter we saw in Return of the Jedi.

With Temuera Morrison assuming the role as an older, grizzled Boba Fett in Chapter 14, that meant he had to make the character his own and had to find a new way to bring this character to life. No longer was Boba Fett the mysterious character behind the mask. The mask was off, and we see there’s a new side to this character that we haven’t seen before. He’s a little more hardened. He fights with a vengeance, and the warrior in him really shines through.

These choices were all intentional and brought to the table by Morrison himself when developing the character. Speaking to StarWars.com, Morrison revealed how part of those choices actually came from his own background — his Maori culture. He said in the interview:

"I come from a warrior background in New Zealand. 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."

We see this warrior spirit in Fett’s eyes on the battlefield as he defends the Child from the endless supply of stormtroopers flooding the field. Of course, many of the action scenes in The Mandalorian have been absolutely phenomenal. But that fighting scene, in particular, was made all the more awesome because of what Morrison was able to do with the character. It wasn’t just the typical “you shoot and I shoot back.” Boba Fett carried with him a staff, and no stormtrooper in sight was safe from his swing.

The practice of using this staff in battle is also something that Morrison brought in from his culture. While there are no real lightsabers on our planet, the method of stick fighting comes in as a close replacement. Here’s what he had to say about his training in this art:

"I was able to bring that into this production. [Director Robert Rodriguez] 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. 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."

It’s clear that Morrison put so much into developing his character for The Mandalorian. In the interview, he even revealed he had discussions with Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni about Boba’s backstory — including any parts of his story that were included in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. So, how much more of Boba Fett will we be seeing?

It looks like we’ll definitely be seeing Boba for another episode or two. He promised to ensure the Child was safe, after all. But after that, nothing is official right now. While there have been rumors about a Boba Fett spinoff, Morrison himself was yet to officially confirm that anything was in the works. Hopefully, though, the rumors will be confirmed and we’ll get to see more of his character soon.

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