Actor Ahmed Best who played 'Jar Jar Binks' explains having to deal with Star Wars fans’ hate

The actor who played Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars is still followed by the phantom menace of his past.

 

Ahmed Best, a 42-year-old American actor who played the hated Gungan in Episodes I, II and III, said that the negative reaction to his character was “painful.”

Jar Jar was laser-blasted by critics and fans at the beginning of the Star Wars prequels in 1999 for his grating accent and annoying, hapless antics.

The floppy-eared flop has been routinely labeled the worst character in the franchise, and Best told These Are The Actors You’re Looking For that it marked his “first ‘most hated’ title for anything.”

 

Launched in response to The Force Awakens, Jamie Stangroom’s YouTube series gives Star Wars actors the chance to reminisce about their time in a galaxy far, far away.

However, the performer who gave voice to Jar Jar says he would reject an offer to step back into his rubbery, computer-generated skin.

The character’s signature way of speaking developed with creator George Lucas came from a voice he would use when reading to his younger cousins, and Best said that many adult fans may have felt condescended to by his clownishness.

The actor has given voice to Binks in subsequent animated television series and video games, but told Stangroom of a return to the live-action universe, “I think I’ve done my damage.”

Best also earned enemies beyond the legions of Star Wars fans throughout the world.

He told Stangroom that he was once given a Hoth-like icy reception by King of Pop Michael Jackson, who had lobbied Lucas for the role of Jar Jar.