The Original Boba Fett's Face Can Be Seen In Empire Strikes Back, But Not As The Bounty Hunter
Listen, what I'm about to tell you should be no surprise to two groups: hardcore "Star Wars" nerds and the terminally ancient fanboy, both terms which describe your dedicated writer. But something to consider is that "Star Wars" fandom has evolved since I was a kid. The original trilogy is no longer the agreed-upon "Star Wars" gold standard anymore. You have the kids who grew up on the prequels, and they prefer those films, much to the frustration of us oldies.
Then there are the Dave Filoni stans who consider "The Clone Wars" and "Rebels" to be the pinnacle of "Star Wars" storytelling. I think there's a lot of prequel lover crossover with that faction, by the way, but the crazy thing is that those folks now aren't that far away from being the old fuddy-duddies shaking their fists at the people who like the newer "Star Wars" offerings in much the same way that we original trilogy purists did for their generation.
As much as a lot of them like complaining about the sequel trilogy, those films were massive cultural hits, pulling in record box office even despite the constant vitriol. If you've ever been to Disney World and seen the hundreds of little Reys running around, you'll know that, for those kids, these are the coolest movies ever made. My point is that I think many of us take some older "Star Wars" trivia for granted. There's a whole new crop of "Star Wars" fans who didn't grow up obsessing over every detail of those original three films and this piece is for them.
That brings us to this little bit of trivia is about the guy behind Boba Fett's mask: Jeremy Bulloch and how he made a sneaky second appearance in "The Empire Strikes Back."
Two bad guys, one scene
Long before Temuera Morrison became the canonical face behind Boba Fett's helmet, a guy named Jeremy Bulloch had the honor. Turns out, Bulloch actually got to show his face in "The Empire Strikes Back" as well, although it took fans a little bit to figure that one out. He plays an Imperial Officer who went unnamed for over a decade before he was christened "Sheckil" by, of all things, an official "Star Wars" card game.
As you can see from the above picture, Bulloch was part of Darth Vader's entourage that went to Bespin in order to capture our beloved heroes. Sheckil laid a trap for Luke Skywalker and was trusted enough by the Sith Lord to be in charge of escorting Leia and Chewbacca (and half of C-3PO) to Vader's ship. He didn't do a great job, but he did get a nice amount of screen time pulling Leia away from Luke's attempted rescue (as seen above).
The story goes that Bulloch wasn't originally intended to play this part, but the actor hired was a no-show. They kinda just looked at who was around the set, and Bulloch got drafted. Funnily enough, Boba Fett is also part of this scene so Bulloch is kinda playing the scene with himself.
A decision made out of necessity, not fan service
As big as "Star Wars" was when it came out, "The Empire Strikes Back" was still an a**holes and elbows, all-hands indie film. George Lucas was wrestling ownership of the series away from Fox and betting the farm on the movie by fully funding it himself, so there's a reason why it stands out as being an envelope-pushing sequel. Jeremy Bulloch getting this brief cameo wasn't a cute in-joke, it was a workaround born of necessity.
For more of the former, check out Bulloch's cameo in "Revenge of the Sith," where he plays Captain Colton, the pilot of Senator Bail Organ's starship. That was a fun cameo for the fans who now knew who Bulloch was, but at the time of making "The Empire Strikes Back," Lucas and director Irwin Kershner just needed a face that would look good in an Imperial uniform that hasn't already been all over the movie.
Now all you young "Star Wars" fans who stumbled across this article have a little bit of trivia, and you have something to look out for the next time you revisit those original movies.