Stunt Coordinator J.J. Dashnaw Talks Filming The Book Of Boba Fett's Massive Final Battle - Exclusive
Over seven episodes, Disney+'s "The Book of Boba Fett" covered a lot of ground. The core of the show centers on the infamous bounty hunter Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) and his loyal right-hand woman Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) as they navigate the dicey politics of Tatooine after taking over Jabba the Hutt's vacated throne. However, it also caught fans up on Boba's adventures since he fell into a Sarlacc pit in "Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi," introduced the live-action version of the deadly bounty hunter Cad Bane (voice of Corey Burton), and presented the touching reunion of the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and Baby Yoda, aka Grogu.
When all those characters and more come together in the show's final episode, it's clear it's going to lead to an explosive confrontation. That battle lasts a majority of the seventh episode's run time and includes everything from a particularly large Wookie to jet packs to the Darksaber to a Rancor. Stunt coordinator J.J. Dashnaw was responsible for designing the elaborate sequence and bringing it to thrilling life. In an interview with Looper, he detailed the planning and filming of the show's exhilarating final battle.
'Six weeks of playtime'
The climactic battle in "The Book of Boba Fett" involves just about every character in the series. That ensures the sequence includes massive action with all sorts of different weapons. It all flashes by in minutes on screen, but Dashnaw noted that filming it took meticulous planning. "We actually got a lot of time to shoot that scene, so we were definitely able to plan things out and rehearse it," Dashnaw revealed. "We had a really good plan on this one, and the reason it probably took six weeks is because of how careful we were shooting everything and making sure that every little beat worked and that we were telling a story in our action."
He also had to account for many elements that bore little resemblance to anything on Earth. Dashnaw credits the professionals he worked with for enabling him to make sure every piece of the action worked. "Dorian Kingi actually played Cad Bane and is awesome ... His outfit and his special effects makeup were unbelievable, just like most of the characters in the show," Dashnaw reminisced. "Making that Rancor, that monster, I could not believe how real it was. We got to have it on a mechanical rig to have it actually move around and have its mouth open up. I've been in this business 30-plus years, and I'm always learning and always getting to see cool stuff."
Ultimately, Dashnaw, who earned an Emmy nomination for his work on "The Book of Boba Fett," comes across as thoroughly satisfied with the way the sequence plays out on the show. "It definitely was one of the more fun ones only because we were outside blowing things up, getting launched across the streets," Dashnaw shared. "It was basically six weeks of playtime for us. And the directors and everyone that we had out there — awesome. We were all very happy with the way it all turned out."
"The Book of Boba Fett" is available to stream on Disney+.