So many interviews! And more to come!

Small Roles, Big Impact #1 - An interview with John "Klaatu" Simkin

The evil Galactic Empire, under the direction of the ruthless Emperor Palpatine, is constructing a second Death Star in order to crush the Rebel Alliance. Since Palpatine plans to personally oversee the final stages of its construction, the Rebel Fleet launches a full-scale attack on the Death Star in order to prevent its completion and kill Palpatine, effectively bringing an end to the Empire. Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker, a Rebel leader and Jedi Apprentice, struggles to bring Darth Vader, who is his father Anakin and himself a fallen Jedi, back from the Dark Side of the Force.

Yes... This is Return of the Jedi, the third instalment (or 6th if you want to be picky) of George Lucas' Starwars original trilogy. And where would it be without Klaatu? Who, according to Wookipedia is: 

"Klaatu was one of several Kadas'sa'Nikto who served Jabba the Hutt. He was Barada's main assistant, in charge of repairing the skiffs. Klaatu was noted as a gambler, and would try his best to make his way to Jabba's throne room to view executions by Jabba's rancor.

During the Battle of the Great Pit of Carkoon, he was present on the top deck of the Khetanna"

And what would Kalaatu be without the man beneath the mask... John Simpkin... (A big thank you to my Starwars guru, Elliot Ashton for the questions.)

So, John, did you know the name of character when you got the part? what did you think of the name coming from 'the day the earth stood still' -" klaatu barada nikto"

"I’ve been asked this before, and to be honest , I can’t be sure. But I’m pretty sure I was told the name at the audition (which was actually more of a test to see if I was too claustrophobic to wear the rubber head… it was hard to breathe!).  Myself and ‘Wooof’ were also referred to as Green Nikto’s."

And how did it feel seeing the figure of your character?

"I had no idea there were Klaatu action figures until about three years ago.  I had a phone call (which I first thought was a joke)  from a guy who said he was a Sci-fi convention promoter, and he was searching for me.  He had a photo from R.O.T.J  featuring four characters, and he had found the other three actors, who were all signing at a London convention, and one of them remembered my name.   Having agreed to do the show,  I Googled  ‘Klaatu’ and found all these models and toys.  I was stunned. I asked my son (Sci-fi geek as it happens) why he hadn’t told me Klaatu had become a toy, and he said ‘I never realised that’s who you played in Starwars!"

Did you prefer appearing on the big screen behind the mask, or the 'making of' where you are seen without the mask?

"Well I was doing quite a lot of film and TV work at the time, so having my face on screen wasn’t really a novelty.. But in spite of the discomfort, I loved that Klaatu mask… I still think was one of the best alien faces on ROTJ."

When did you last drop it into conversation that you were in return of the jedi, or tell an anecdote of being on set?

"Probably at my last Sci-Fi convention, which was Utrecht in May. The starwars fans want to hear every detail."

Did you manage to keep any memorabilia? 

"Not often to be honest… But I so wish I did have.  I guess at the time, while I realised it was a huge movie and felt lucky to be there, it was also just another job… And we weren’t meant to take photo’s on set (though plenty of people did of course!)"

Shame!!

Do you have any good anecdotes? 

"Lots of really funny stuff happened on set…  After the  scene where Carrie  Fisher, in that famous gold bikini, was being fondled  by a puppeteer in Jabba the Hut’s arm, she turned round to me, on guard in my Klaatu costume’ and said “Yeh I know it’s a dirty job, but somebody’s gotta do it!” 

As I said earlier, the Rubber heads that many of us wore were suffocating and claustrophobic, and took time  to get on and off. It was very hot on the Jabba’s Palace set,  and artists regularly fainted . So in-between takes, the wardrobe dept. came round with hair dryers (set on cold obviously) , and stuck them in our mouths…  All these aliens  with hair-dryers in their mouths looked  so bizarre!"

What were the guys really like? And yes, I'm talking Ford, Lucas, Hamill and all.

"Ok…. Harrison Ford was very serious, quiet and withdrawn on set (some would say rude and moody.. I wouldn’t of course!)   George Lucas was also serious and on the quiet side for a director, but I don’t remember him being rude to anyone, and definitely had the aura of greatness. Mark Hammil was the most friendly, normal, un-pretensious of all the stars on set, and sat chatting to me and the other skiff guards for hours in between scenes. Carrie was friendly to everyone, funny too.. The atmosphere lightened when she came on the set."

A big thank you to John for this, he certainly is another actor who made a big impact without a leading role! Brilliant!

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Klaatu  

scifisignersunited.weebly.com

My date with Boba - In Interview with Jeremy Bulloch

I had seen his picture online, he described himself as tall dark and handsome, I could see he was tall, but as for handsome, well, I had never actually seen him without his helmet.

I had joined the computer dating site after many failed relationships, my last boyfriend was a nice guy at first, but then he started going to meet this horrible old guy and ended up being half machine, always dressed in black and intent on universal domination... Or something, like that... Anyway  it was also impossible to sleep next to him because of his terrible asthma. 

Then I went out with this hunk of a guy, lord he was gorgeous, but he got frozen in Carbonite, so that was doomed too.

Then there was this cute gold droid from Tatooine, he was such a gentleman and so polite, but he was far too intelligent for me, I mean, he could speak over 6 million languages!

So now I'm meeting this new guy, he seemed very nice on-line and  after all, I thought,I had dated men, had had a go at half men, half machines, so why not a clone? He said he worked as a bounty hunter, it sounded so glamorous. Born in a place called Kamino, he had been cloned from his late father Jango, who was also a bounty hunter, nice I thought, carrying on the family business, plus I was a sucker for a man in a uniform. 

I reapplied my lipstick, checked my watch and stared at the door, he was late, not the best start, but he had a long way to come, he was coming straight from a job apparently, I had never heard of Alderaan but I guessed it was further than Croydon.

Then I saw him, he stood at the door surveying the room, he was carrying roses, how sweet, I thought.  I stood and waved him over. He looked as nervous as me.

I poured him a glass of wine and we sat in silence, for a trained soldier he was very shy. Then he lifted off his helmet, to my surprise, underneath was a silver fox, it Jeremy Bulloch, an actor of fine reputation, he had been in movies as diverse as Bond movies (‘Octopussy’ and 'For your eyes only'), to the TV series Dr Who, as well as the obvious - StarWars ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ and the ‘Return of the Jedi’. 

He was also in Revenge of the Sith, but as another character called Captain Colton… Boba was little more than a boy during this chapter, Jeremy is a fine, fine actor, but all the prosthetics in the world ain’t going to make that happen!

But to me, helmet or no helmet, this was Boba Fett…

We ordered our food, I had the seafood risotto and he had the steak, we both chose the cheesecake pudding, but after the waiter had left, we sat nervously playing with our cutlery and starring around the room, some one had to say something to break the ice, we'd been talking online for weeks, but it was different in the flesh… But I had learnt a lot about him, so I thought I'd ask him a few questions...

I thought about him playing in the 2005 film ‘Revenge of the Sith’ as captain cotton and realised that he wasn’t just Boba Fett,  he had played three different characters in 3 of the Star Wars films…

 "There was no one available to play Sheckil the imperial officer and I was asked if I would like to play Captain Colton in the final film." 

I wondered if he was offered any role in the next trilogy what sort of character would he like to play? 

"It would have to be Boba Fett.”

Of course it would… Silly question really! I took another sip of wine and continued.

I remembered that his half-brother Robert had helped him get the role of Boba, that was nice of him, I thought, how kind. I wondered why he’d thought it was a good role for him? And how he'd thanked him?

"I just said thanks as playing the part of Boba fitted in with a role I was working on in the theatre."

I noticed his suit, well you couldn’t miss it! I had to ask, I knew that when he first saw the Boba Fett costume was it a sketch, which one was it? The white prototype suit or the coloured version?

"The Colour version.”

And what was your first reaction to it? I enquired 

“I thought that the costume was strange looking but once I put it on I felt very at home."

Our meal came, but now the conversation was really starting to flow, so I just carried on as we ate.

So what was the first piece of Boba Fett merchandise you owned?  I asked, munching into my rice.

"The full size BOBA FETT statue."

Men and their toys eh?! It reminded me of the Boba Fett action figure that my brother had and... Hey?! I remembered something about the gun, I asked how did he feel when he discovered the missile firing action of his action figure had to be welded in place due to safety concerns?

"It could have been very dangerous if the rocket was loose."

And when was the point he realised Fett was going to be such a huge character for the fans? 

"I think when they re released the first three films in 1996."

And did he feel Boba lost a lot if his coolness once his back story was explained? 

"Yes I think that once you saw his face he lost the mystery that surrounded him."

Our main course finished and two bottles down,  we were handed our puddings and ordered coffee and the conversation continued...

Did you have any say in the costume or character at all? 

"No I just watched what was going on so I could settle in to the scene."

Boba dropped a glob of cake down his front, as he wiped himself down and I noticed something, exactly what were the hair plaits hanging from his armour?

"They were Wookie Scalps." He replied.

I wondered if he had any funny stories about shooting?

"The only funny stories was when I tripped over Darth Vader's cloak in the carbon freezer."

This did make me chuckle at the thought.

We finished our cheesecake, drowned the last of our coffeeand signalled the waiter for the bill.  He asked me how my coffee was, I replied "The caffeine is strong in this one", making myself laugh and prompting my next question...

When was the last time you quoted a line from Star Wars, in an everyday situation? 

"Nearly every day, usually when I am in the garden. HOW WEIRD!"

And one last question just had to be asked... 

What is it like being the best sci fi character ever? 

He answered, with a smile "its totally awesome being Boba and I get to fly in Slave 1..."

What a lovely time, what a lovely man, under his cool façade was a genuinely fantastic guy… This could work, I thought as I excused myself and went to powder my nose, and after 2 bottles of wine it needed a good powdering!

I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror as I reapplied my lipstick… hmm… Mrs Boba Fett… It had a good ring to it. I straightened my dress and exited the bathroom…. 

Boba had already paid and was standing by the door, I smiled and started towards him, maybe it was time to settle down... But then...

That's when I saw him… He entered the restaurant through the open door and crossed the room like a hairy Greek god… He must have been well over 7 foot tall, glistening blue eyes, brown hair, well… everywhere… Wow, this was a whole lot’a Wookie.

But that’s a whole other story…