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Q&A with
Gerald Home
First-time attendee Gerald Home who portrayed both Tessek and a Mon
Calamari in Return of the Jedi took some time away from signing
autographs this past Saturday to share some stories from his past
and update us on a few projects he currently has in the works.
Mr.
Home revealed that he didn't appear at his first convention until
the Motor-City show about five years ago. Before then, he didn't
even know about the existence of conventions until fans started
tracking him down via the internet asking him when he'd be appearing
at one. It was also at that first convention that he learned that
the character he played in Return of the Jedi was named Tessek.
Until that point, he had referred to the character by the name it
went buy back when Jedi was first released in 1983, the name Squid
Head.
While
on the set he worked under the direction of Dave Tippett along with
eight other actors. During his time on the Jabba's Palace set, he
got to know Stuart Ziff who was the chief articulation engineer on
the set and who also worked articulation for Jabba the Hutt and
Salacious Crumb. It was through knowing Ziff that Mr. Home was able
to land a second part in the movie as a Mon Calamari aid to Admiral
Ackbar. He even filmed to pages of dialog as the character, but the
scenes were cut in the editing process.
Since
Jedi wrapped back in 1992, Mr. Home has managed to keep himself busy
by being a diverse actor and performer. He has done lots of
commercial work in his home of England and is best known for a
series of "Mr. Muscle" commercials he filmed. He served as a
puppeteer in the 1986 movie "Little Shop of Horrors" as well as in
the Kate Bush music video entitled "King of the Hill". Current
projects include a couple of new movie including a take on the Billy
Wilder classic "Sunset Boulevard" titled "London Boulevard" starring
Keira Knightly and Colin Farrell.
He
also keeps busy making convention appearances, appearing in about
six a year. He tried to do two in England, two in Europe and two
more in the United States. Here's hoping that when he does come back
to the US he choose to grace Super Megafest with his presence again.
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