After playing the not-so-beloved Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Ahmed Best has evolved into a fan-favorite. The reappraisal of the actor and his place in Star Wars history is part of a larger change in attitudes towards the prequels in recent years. While The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith remain divisive, the acclaimed Clone Wars animated series has done a lot to improve the outlook towards key elements from those movies. That includes Jar Jar, one of the most (if not the most) infamous characters from the prequel trilogy.
When The Phantom Menace hit theaters in 1999, audiences were far from keen towards the clumsy Gungan. Tonally, the overly cartoonish comic relief felt out of place in an otherwise straight-faced space opera about trade disputes, illegal invasions, and political corruption. George Lucas has always maintained Star Wars is for kids, but the Jar Jar character was seen by many as a clunky attempt to add more kid-friendly juvenile humor to the mix. Fans hated him and many channeled their aggression towards Best for his performance.
Two decades later, Best is not only a fan-favorite, he's even hosting a competition game show called Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge. His resurgence didn't happen overnight; for years, fans saw Jar Jar as the epitome of what was wrong with the Star Wars prequels, and even Best wanted the character to die by being "hacked to pieces in some kind of way." Yet, just as they forgave Lucas for his past mistakes, in time fans came to appreciate the significance of Best's performance in The Phantom Menace.
Fully CGI characters brought to life through motion-capture acting might be commonplace in blockbusters nowadays, but it was Jar Jar who paved the way when he hit the big screen in 1999. At the time, most people couldn't appreciate how difficult it was for Best to not just voice the clownish alien, but also play him on-set wearing an unflattering costume to give the cast a rough idea of his final look. Best took issue with the way his contributions (along with those of the artists who animated Jar Jar) to mo-cap acting are often overlooked in 2017, and fans were quick to rally their support behind him. This wasn't the first sign Star Wars fans had changed their tune about Best, but it marked a turning point in public opinion towards the actor.
About a year later, Best admitted he seriously considered committing suicide in the wake of a backlash to Jar Jar "that still affects my career today." Thankfully, he didn't, and is now openly proud of his work in the role, having reprised the character for Clone Wars and riffed on Jar Jar with his guest appearances on Robot Chicken. Even fan opinion towards Jar Jar has softened in recent years, with projects like Chuck Wendig's Aftermath book trilogy making him more sympathetic by revealing he was ostracized from society after Palpatine's ascension to power. Speaking at Star Wars Celebration 2019, Lucas went so far as to call Jar Jar his favorite Star Wars character and praised Best for doing "a fantastic job" in what he described as a "very, very hard" role.
Best has only carried that newfound goodwill over to his role on the upcoming Jedi Temple Challenge series. Shortly after the show's trailer dropped online, the internet was flooded with fan art of Best's Jedi character, Master Kelleran Beq, much to the actor's delight. He's since confirmed the Force user is related to Achk Med-Beq (a human character he briefly played in Attack of the Clones), and revealed key information about his purple lightsaber on the series. Clearly, Best has put a lot of thought and consideration into his Jedi character and is ready to fully embrace the Star Wars fandom once again.
It's a welcome happy ending to Best's story and his experiences with Star Wars. Fans may never come around completely to Jar Jar (nor should they have to), but Best didn't deserve the scorn he received for playing the character, and his contributions to the art of mo-cap acting continue to resonate to this day. The Phantom Menace came out at a time when conversations about the dangers of toxic fandom weren't happening as much as they are today, so it's good to see Star Wars fans have come to recognize the personal attacks against Best as an example of this. For them and especially those who grew up watching the prequel trilogy, his return to the franchise is a welcome one and, hopefully, marks the beginning of a much brighter future for Best in a galaxy far, far away.
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