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Galactic News
Friday November 2, 2001
Homing Beacon #47
The latest Homing Beacon has arrived and we get to hear from Captain Typho and his relationship with Captain Panaka. The grim-faced one-eyed Captain Typho couldn't be more different than Jay Laga'aia, the actor who plays him. Starwars.com caught up with Laga'aia on a visit to Skywalker Ranch last week. The actor demonstrated a considerably lighter attitude than Padmé's stern protector.
"It was just fabulous," says Laga'aia of his performance. "There are rumors that George is actually writing a sequel just about my character, but I don't want to get into that because of my confidentiality clause."
Kidding aside, Laga'aia will be stepping back into a character he hasn't played in months, and to get up to speed requires a quick crash-course in Typhoisms. "I had to request some dialogue of myself previously, because I have an American accent for Xena, and an American accent specifically for Captain Typho."
Typho follows the tradition of his uncle, Captain Panaka, in guarding Padmé Amidala's safety. "I quite like the character, because he's this guardian that has Padmé's ear, and her counsel, and he can say things and decree things that not too many people can get away with as far as her security is involved. Once you get the costume on, it's a regal feeling, because the costume is so restrictive, you're forced to pull yourself up and forced to hold yourself with the shoulders back."
Despite the help the costume provides in performing the character, Laga'aia was looking forward to acting in regular street clothes when re-recording dialogue, especially since it meant he'd have his full vision back. "Because of the eyepatch, depth perception and hitting marks was just a nightmare on set. And you couldn't actually explain to people asking you to run here and hit a mark that you're looking out of one eye! So you try to hit a mark, and you realize 'I have no idea how far that is from me.' I hope that if my character comes back in Episode III, that just like Geordi in Star Trek, he can get a prosthetic or something."
Star Wars has long been a family experience for Laga'aia. "I've been a fan of the movies since it first came out. I remember as a 13-year-old with my brother growing up in South Aukland, collecting drink bottles and taking them into the store to get refunds, and saving up enough money to catch the bus to see the movie. I sat down with my brother, watching the opening crawl, and I remember turning to him and saying, 'Can you read quieter?'
"When Episode I came out in Sydney, I took my seven-year-old with his friends to the movies, gave him his popcorn and gave him his drink, sat them down, the opening titles came up, and I turned to my son and said, 'Would you mind reading quieter?'"
What does Laga'aia think now that children and collectors around the world may someday re-enact scenes from Attack of the Clones with toys of his character? "I asked the licensing guys if it would be possible to get a microchip put into Captain Typho action figures that detects if there are feminine clothes being placed on it, so it explodes in the kid's hands. They said it could be dangerous."