‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Stars Look Back on Latest Episode, the Development of Tusken Culture, and More
The Television Critics Association (TCA) Winter Press Tour is currently underway, and they are hosting panels from various television channels and streaming services. Last year, during the Disney Plus panel, they took the chance to announce the release date for The Bad Batch and other shows like Marvel Studios’ Loki. The 2022 Disney Plus panel took place recently, and while no official new release dates or any sort of news were announced, actors Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen did have a little chat about their time on The Book of Boba Fett.
The event was exclusive to TCA members, so we can only put the pieces together of what happened from the reactions from some of the people that attended. The official TCA Twitter account retweeted many of their members’ posts during the presentation, so what follows is a recollection of some of the highlights from the panel.
It started with Ming-Na Wen and Temuera Morrison talking about Danny Trejo, who made a surprise appearance in Chapter 3 as a rancor trainer. However, according to Wen, the surprise was not that big, as one would have expected Rodriguez’s frequent collaborator to appear sooner rather than later. Morrison, on his end, didn’t know he would be appearing in the show until the day they filmed that scene, and then he added they spent most of their time together remembering about their time hunting Harrison Ford together in the 1998 film Six Days Seven Nights.
https://twitter.com/megsokay/status/1482058156222128128
Ming-Na starts off talking about Danny Trejo joining the show, saying "it was inevitable" given the show is a Robert Rodriguez joint. Morrison says he didn't know Trejo was involved until he showed up that day for filming #TCA22 #TheBookOfBobaFett
— Alex Zalben (@azalben) January 14, 2022
Ming-Na then weighed in on the relationship between Fennec Shand and Boba Fett, saying that Fennec, as we’ve seen in the series, is less patient and more used to being a loner, and is now learning diplomacy. But above all, the two respect each other. Temuera Morrison also added that he made up a lot of the nuances of his character when he was getting the makeup tests done.
“I believe Fennec is less patient. She is used to being a loner and getting things done. There are stumbling blocks as they are trying to learn diplomacy. Fennec and Boba respect each other” –@MingNa on @bobafett #tca22
— Murtz Jaffer (@murtzjaffer) January 14, 2022
#TheBookOfBobaFett: Temuera on finding his character: "I made a lot of it up when I was getting the makeup tests done… I wanted to bring a little bit more energy… those things that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up" #TCA22 pic.twitter.com/AP2q1ENBmY
— Hanhonymous (@Hanhonymous) January 14, 2022
The conversation then shifted towards the inclusion of the Tusken Raiders’ culture in the show, and Temuera Morrison brought up that he used a lot of his cultural heritage from New Zealand into the show, and Ming-Na Wen added that it gave the Tuskens great honor.
"It gave them great honor," Ming-Na Wen adds, calling out the dancing, and the making of the staff. "I think all of those elemtns enriched who the Tuskens are." #TCA22 #TheBookOfBobaFett
— Alex Zalben (@azalben) January 14, 2022
And finally, Wen also had something to add to the online conversation about the gang that was introduced in Chapter 3, led by Sophie Thatcher and Jordan Bolger. She said that she loved it, as they reminded her of what George Lucas did in American Grafitti, and could not stop gushing about Sophie Thatcher:
Ming-Na Wen says she loved Sophie Thatcher and her gang because it's a tribute to George Lucas's interest in mods, AMERICAN GRAFFITI, and it lends itself to learning more about Tatooine. Calls Sophie Thatcher "a lovely human being." #TCA22
— Meghan O’Keefe (@megsokay) January 14, 2022
Saying that the gang and their bikes have not been particularly well-received among the hardcore Star Wars fans might be an understatement, but it is always possible they will win over our hearts in the episodes to come. Whatever you might think of the series so far, it is clear that there is still a lot in store for us, and hopefully, the best parts are yet to come. We might find out more on Wednesday, January 19th, when Chapter 4 of The Book of Boba Fett comes out.
Make sure to return to read our review of the new episode, and if you haven’t already, check out our own Josh Atkins’ thoughts on Chapter 3 here.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as movies from Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
