LOS ANGELES, CA.- Ahmed Best is a futurist, an educator, a martial artist, a writer-director and the actor behind Jar Jar Binks, the most hated character in the Star Wars universe.
Long-eared Jar Jar is a bipedal amphibianlike creature with an ungainly walk and a winning attitude. The groundbreaking, computer-generated goofball debuted in the first installment of George Lucas prequel trilogy, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, and instantly set off widespread criticism from both fans and the news media.
It took almost a mortal toll on me. It was too much, Best recently recalled. It was the first time in my life where I couldnt see the future. I didnt see any hope. Here I was at 26 years old, living my dream, and my dream was over.
Now 50, Best is the picture of panache who could easily be mistaken for an off-duty rock star. He arrived at our interview riding a motorcycle and wearing a blue denim jacket, black jeans and stylish shades.
In the presence of Bests self-assured demeanor, its even more shocking to learn that back in 1999 the vitriol fans flung at Jar Jar, and in turn at him, ravaged his mental health. But he revisited these memories a few weeks before the movies return to theaters Friday to commemorate the 25th anniversary of its release.
Two constellations, Star Wars and Star Trek, nurtured Bests curiosity for both science and the arts as a child in the South Bronx. The 1977 Star Wars (Episode IV) was the first movie he ever saw in a cinema. Back then, being part of the intergalactic saga seemed unfathomable.
Twenty years later, Best was performing in Stomp, the theater show where performers communicate through rhythm and acrobatics, when Robin Gurland, the casting director on Phantom Menace, attended a performance in San Francisco. She had spent months conducting an exhaustive search for the actor who could embody Jar Jars physicality. That evening she found him.
There was just something so electrifying about his performance; it was natural and innovative, Gurland said by phone. I couldnt take my eyes off of Ahmed.
What if you were from this other planet, totally different from anything we know? How would you move? Gurland recalled asking Best during his audition at Skywalker Ranch. He got it immediately and was able to just create this being out of thin air.
Doug Chiang, the design director on Phantom Menace, remembered Lucas describing Jar Jar as a combination of the silent comedy stars Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Lucas ruled out a puppet for the alien creature, Chiang said, but still needed Jar Jar to appear grounded in reality to hold up against live actors onscreen.
Even though this was a synthetic character, created out of ones and zeros, George wanted it to have a lot of expression, Chiang said via video call. The actor component was absolutely critical.
Commonplace now, motion capture, the process of recording a person or objects movement to serve as the basis for a digital entity, was mostly uncharted territory. Jar Jar became the first main character in a feature film created this way, though initially the filmmakers didnt know if it would work.
When Best landed the part as well as the separate assignment to voice the character providing a playful take he often used with his younger cousins he thought it was surreal, he recalled, adding with a laugh, I was like, Why me? I wanted it, of course, and Im glad George believed in me, a 23-year-old kid from the streets of New York.
In Chiangs view, Ahmeds role in this was very understated, and its heartbreaking that he didnt receive the attention and accolade because Jar Jar was a breakthrough character.
Best spent the better part of two years working with Lucas and Industrial Light & Magic; his acting provided the physical element for the foundational software Lucasfilm created for performance capture. Im not Jar Jar. We are Jar Jar, Best said crediting the numerous artists involved at different stages of the characters development.
But during filming, Best had doubts about the role. He credits co-star Ewan McGregor, who played Obi-Wan Kenobi, with helping him embrace Jar Jars inherent silliness. Best was on set with the rest of the cast, performing while wearing a suit and headpiece that resembled Jar Jars final look
In one of the first scenes we shot, I was having a hard time with the line Weesa going home! because it didnt feel right to me, Best recalled. And then Ewan said, But how does it feel to Jar Jar? Thats when I thought, Im going to take my ego out of this.
When he saw the final rendering of Jar Jar onscreen, he was taken aback. I was up there, and I wasnt up there at the exact same time, Best said. Jar Jar moved like me and that was just a very odd feeling.
Unfortunately, Jar Jar was a pioneering character in more ways than one. Critics said the character was a collection of racial stereotypes, a Rastafarian Stepin Fetchit, as The Wall Street Journal described him. One complaint was Jar Jars accent, which some perceived as derived from Jamaican patois.
Everybody talks about Jar Jars accent, said Best, who is of West Indian descent. I read exactly what George wrote. It wasnt me. It wasnt an accent.
Back in the day, Chewbacca was seen as the Black character, he continued. And then Yoda was ridiculed for being an Asian stereotype. Then the Neimoidians were ridiculed for being an Asian stereotype. Star Wars has had a history of being a lightning rod. Thats because its so successful.
No matter the context, the onslaught of negative reactions in the nascent online forums of the late 90s, as well as in traditional media, drove him to consider suicide, he said.
Looking back now, Best said Jar Jar was probably also the first cyber-bullied pop culture character ever. In his view there were other factors that contributed to the barrage, including racism among fans, something another Star Wars performer, Kelly Marie Tran, called out in 2018 when she endured online harassment. (He said he related to Kelly Marie for sure. Shes a phenomenal actor and the way she was treated was completely unwarranted.)
There are a lot of people who want to see Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Darth Vader for the rest of their lives, and they dont realize that Star Wars is changing, Best said. He noted that the Star Wars franchise had yet to have a movie centered on a Black protagonist and added with a laugh, Im available.
But worse than the ceaseless public scrutiny was learning that his role had been dramatically reduced for the two sequels, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
As an artist you want the respect from your peers, and I felt as if I was being scaled back because I didnt do a good job, he said. It really hurt. Everybody was running away from me, including the people that I gave two years of my life to.
Finding acting work post-Star Wars proved nearly impossible. The first hurdle was proving he had been in the movies: When Id tell people what I did as Jar Jar, they would be like, Thats just animation. I dont see your face, so how do I know it was you? Best recalled. And Id say, No, it was me. Im an actor; its called motion capture.
He admitted that even all these years later he remained hesitant to talk with journalists about that time. Its such a cultural phenomenon, and there are few Black voices in Star Wars, so I feel that Im partially obliged to keep my voice out there, he said.
Since those dark days, Best has diversified his ambitions. Hes an adjunct lecturer at the University of Southern Californias School of Dramatic Arts, where he teaches filmmaking for actors. At Stanford Universitys d.school, he has taught a class revolving around Afrofuturism, a subject that informs his belief that an optimistic future is possible through the combination of narrative art and technology.
Jar Jar represents the possibility that whatever you got in your head, creatively, we can invent a future where this thing exists, he said. Just because no one has done it before, doesnt mean it cant be done.
Throughout the years, Jar Jar hasnt entirely left Bests life. The actor has voiced the character in video games and in animated shows like Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Its big and it tends to overtake your life, Best said. The thoughts Ive had were, Who am I outside of this? Because as an artist, you dont want to be locked into one thing.
More recently, hes rejoined the Star Wars universe in his own body, as the warrior teacher Kelleran Beq on the childrens show Jedi Temple Challenge and in an episode of The Mandalorian.
This is going to sound really corny, please forgive me, but it felt like coming home, Best said.
Despite the baggage, Best never stopped loving Jar Jar. When he meets fans on the rare occasions that he agrees to appear at conventions Best has noticed its usually young children, people with disabilities and those who have been ostracized who identify most with Jar Jar. Hes misunderstood, but Jar Jars heart is so pure, he said.
At the time of the backlash, Lucas assured Best that Jar Jars target audience who were kids and for whom the character would become a fond childhood memory would eventually come to his defense. He was right, Best said. Its a different story now.
Witness the reception for Best in 2019 at Star Wars Celebration, an event dedicated to the franchise, when fans welcomed him with thunderous applause. It really warmed my heart to see him get that, Chiang recalled.
Heart comes up a lot when Bests name is mentioned.
Dave Filoni, the chief creative officer of Lucasfilm and a writer on The Mandalorian, described him as a unique talent, and no one can replicate what he brings through his performance as Jar Jar. There is comedy, but also a lot of heart.
And Best takes solace in the role hes played behind the scenes as well. He noted that the software developed through his work as Jar Jar became central to the creation of future CGI characters.
Im in there, Best said. You cant have Gollum without Jar Jar. You cant have the Navi in Avatar without Jar Jar. You cant have Thanos or the Hulk without Jar Jar. I was the signal for the rest of this art form, and Im proud of Jar Jar for that, and Im proud to be a part of that. Im in there!
This article originally appeared in
The New York Times.