Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen weigh in on The Book of Boba Fett's controversy over the Tusken Raider characters

The Hollywood Reporter

 "(Their portrayal) was better than it was (in the films),” Morrison said at the TV press tour. “Then I read (in the script that) we were throwing dead bodies just on the fire and I was going, ‘Oh, hang on, we got to put a bit of ceremony into this.’ But they are the Indigenous of the sands of Tatooine, and I was creating a little bit more history about their own culture — and I was pulling from my own culture, in a way, in terms of the ceremonies and preparing the warrior and preparing a weapon. And Boba has never experienced a real family before — with the young Tuskens and the old Tuskens — and protecting their land.” Wen added: “We knew so little about the Tuskens, and (the show) really gave them an incredible backstory. … I thought all those elements really enrich who the Tuskens are, … and (setting the bodies on fire) was part of Star Wars, with A New Hope, whether it’s the Jawas, when they were attacked, there is this ceremonious desire on Tatooine to burn the bodies as opposed to letting them lie out in the open in the desert.”

ALSO:

• Temuera Morrison takes great pride in the rarity of being a major Star Wars performer who comes from an Indigenous background
• Morrison admits he was taken aback by this week's surprise guest-star: "I didn’t know until the last minute"
• The first three Boba Fett episodes have been, respectively, like The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker