STAR WARS INSIDER / 53FINDING YOUR FETTBossk
The fearsome appearance of bounty hunter
Bossk, played by actor Alan Harris, was created
using a mix of new and recycled elements. The
head of Bossk had previously been used in the
cantina scene in A New Hope, where it was known
as the ‘Crocker’ alien mask, designed by makeup
and creature effects expert Stuart Freeborn.
The bounty hunter’s striking fl ightsuit had its
own colorful history. Originally a High-Altitude
Windak pressure suit used by the Royal Air Force,
such suits often ended up being used as astronaut
costumes on British television, with one matching
Bossk’s design appearing in a 1966 episode of
Doctor Who called “The Tenth Planet.” Several
variations of the suit also appeared in the cantina
in A New Hope, worn by different characters, and
it was one of these costumes that was modifi ed
to become Bossk’s fl ightsuit, with a new insignia
applied to the shoulders.
Of his time on the fi lm, Alan Harris recalled
that wearing the costume was not easy as he could
only see out of one of the nostrils.
4-Lom
Created by the talented art department team, the striking
look of 4-LOM fused a droid body—more or less a C-3PO
costume re-sprayed, and the chest plate altered—with an
insectoid head. The sculpted mask (by pattern maker Brian
Archer) featured two large, compound eyes, covered with
irregular bits of shattered glass. Since the script called for the
droid to stand in just one place on the Executor bridge scene,
the elaborate mask didn’t have to make any allowance for the
actor, Chris Parsons, to see out of it. Parsons was originally
cast in the fi lm in the role of K-3PO, and served as a double for
Anthony Daniels, even appearing as the golden droid himself
at the offi cial premiere of The Empire Strikes Back!Irregular
shards of glass
were used to
give 4-LOM his
inscetoid eyes.