Although he's enjoyed a varied and prolific career over 40 years, Jeremy Bulloch is still best known as Star Wars bounty hunter Boba Fett. Here is an excerpt on a feature interview by Jonathan Wilkins.

How did you get the role of Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back?

My half-brother Robert Watts was the associate producer. He said "Get your agent onto this, it's not much -- only a couple of days -- but they want to see people to play the bounty hunters." I was told that they only had one costume. I always say that if I hadn't fitted the costume, I wouldn't have got the part. It was as simple as that. There was one outfit that zipped up at the back. It was almost tailored, the leggings drifted over the shoe. It was as if it was meant to be as it was a perfect fit. I walked into the audition room and George Lucas said "Yeah that's fine. Well it's not very much Jeremy, but we'll see you on Monday." That night I told my sons and they thought it was very cool! The two to three days turned into five weeks, then I was asked back for Return of the Jedi for another four weeks.

Fett made a huge impact with surprisingly little screen time. How difficult was it to get the attitude of his movements right?

Well, perhaps I put myself down a bit, but when fans say "I like the bit where you turn round or the way you press a switch" I say, "Well I was probably falling asleep at the time!" I was working in the theatre at night and luckily as a masked character you couldn't see that I was quite tired! I used to stand in a certain way, tilt my head and use small specific movements. He loved his weaponry, so I would cradle the gun in my arms and do things in the hope that the audience would notice.

In Jabba the Hutt's Palace, as the camera pans across, I would move my head a small amount. As you are doing that, you are working with the camera. The strength of Fett is not action. It is standing totally still, with just the odd movement.

There is a scene in Return of the Jedi Special Edition with the dancing girls where he tickles one of the girls on the chin. I don't think that's something he would do. They might hit on him, but he would always be on his guard. There must be many people and aliens after him and he wouldn't want to be caught with his trousers down!

What do you think is the secret to Boba Fett's success? Why is he such a fan favorite?

If you look at the outfit, as an actor you don't have to do much. The true success is all there in the outfit. He captures Han Solo, which is pretty cool, and briefly he answers Darth Vader back! Not many people do that and get away with it. He's on his own. He means well, he's very honest about his job, and he's very good at what he does. To keep the mystique he shouldn't take the helmet off. You see Darth Vader unveiled, but with Fett I feel it would be best if you never see his face. You might hear him, but you never get a good look.

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Read the full interview, plus hear from Daniel Logan, Fett's younger self, in issue #99 of Star Wars Insider, on newsstands January 15.