When Jeremy Bulloch landed a role in the second Star Wars movie, he didn't realise he would be answering fan mail almost 30 years later. Miriam Craig talks to him ahead of his visit to the Elstree Film Festival

Jeremy Bulloch's good fortune in being given the role of Boba Fett was as much to do with his bodily proportions as it was his acting ability.

Bulloch was in the middle of doing a play when he found out the Star Wars film-makers were looking for someone to fill the role of the bounty hunter hired by the Empire and Jabba the Hutt to capture Han Solo and Chewbacca.

But the costume had already been made to fit the actor who had played the role in the first film.

Bulloch says: "My half brother was associate producer and he said, It's only a couple of days' work, but if you fit the suit, you'll have the part'.

"The interview was one of the nicest I've ever had. The boots fitted and it was almost as if a Savile Row tailor had made the suit for me.

"The couple of days' work turned into four or five weeks, and then I was asked back to do Return of the Jedi."

Bulloch, 63, landed his first major role in Summer Holiday when he was just 17, alongside pop idol Cliff Richard. He has since acted in Dr Who, the Sixties soap opera The Newcomers, and three Bond films, playing Q's assistant, Smithers.

In 2005 he was invited to play Captain Colton in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. He says: "It was the same lovely relaxed atmosphere as there had been in the earlier films. George Lucas is a very gentle soul."

When Bulloch comes to the Elstree Film Festival in Borehamwood on Friday, he will introduce The Empire Strikes Back, which, like all the films being screened during the event, was made at Elstree Film Studios.

The actor has fond memories of the studios, dating back to some of his earliest roles. As a star-struck teenager, he bumped into Roger Moore, Alan Ladd and Robert Mitchum on various occasions.

Even despite the success of the original Stars Wars film, the amount of attention he received for his part took Bulloch by surprise.

"I saw The Empire Strikes Back with the cast and crew. Of course, you're waiting for the moment when you come on, thinking no one's going to notice the acting of the guy who spends the whole film with a helmet covering his face," he says.

"Then as I was watching it I thought, actually, the character's come out quite well. Some weeks later, I started to get all these fan letters, which have tripled since the original films were re-released in 1997."

As the fan mail continues to arrive in a steady stream, Bulloch is invited to speak at conventions on an almost weekly basis.

"It's been a huge adventure, and it's still going on," he says.

Elstree Film Festival takes place at the Reel Cinema, in Shenley Road, Borehamwood, from Sunday until July 4. Tickets cost £6 (under 15s £4.50, family ticket £18) and are available over the counter at the cinema, online at reelcinemas.co.uk or from Fairway Hall, in Brook Road, Borehamwood. For more information about the festival, call 020 8207 1382.