Star Wars: Jar Jar Binks Actor Ahmed Best Reveals One Man Show About Making The Prequels
Ahmed Best, the actor who played Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars prequels, is probably the most obvious example of the trend of "Prequels redemption" that has happened in recent years. The trilogy, which came out between 1999 and 2005, made a ton of money for Lucasfilm and Fox, but they also became a lightning rod for geek rage. Nobody took more of the brunt of that than Best, whose character was singled out for hate and ridicule. In more recent years, as fans and critics started to re-evaluate the films, one of the first things they realized is that Best seems to be a nice, charming guy who was unjustly vilified.
Even people who still have not warmed up to the prequels in general, or Jar Jar in particular, have come around on Best. The actor has been open about the mental health struggles that came as a result of suddenly becoming a pop culture punching bag -- and now he's staging a one-man show that will revolve around his experience making Star Wars.
"I think it's time for my version of how it all went down," Best said on Twitter last night, sharing a photo of his computer screen, on which a script cover reads "Untitled One Man Show by Ahmed Best."
"To be very honest, I was very afraid to go to Celebration," Best said in 2019. "Every time I'm in a Star Wars setting, I spend most of my time defending our work and defending Jar Jar. And I just don't want to do that anymore. So I was very reluctant to come to Celebration because of that, and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't the case at all. I just felt nothing but love and respect and admiration for the work we did. I couldn't have been more proud and I couldn't have been happier. I wish George [Lucas] was there because I think we're at a time right now where we have to stand in that work. We have to say, 'We did it,' and step into that in a very proud way, because it stands the test of time."
Years later, he would go on to host Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge, which brought him formally back to the Star Wars galaxy again.
The series is an obstacle course competition for kids in the vein of something like Legends of the Hidden Temple.
"One of the reasons I said yes to this show was that kids have always lifted me up," Best said at the time. "They've always given me the feedback and the positivity that I always looked for. When I was Jar Jar, I would always get great responses from kids and I really wanted to, not just continue that, but give back to the kids. I wanted to give them something else, because Star Wars has since skewed older and there isn't very much for the kids anymore in Star Wars. It's very much for the millennials and gen-Xers like myself...so kids are kind of left out of these, and the kids have to go to the animated series in order to get their dose of Star Wars, or they do like Phantom Menace. Phantom Menace is very much a kids' movie."
