Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was released in 1999, and immediately promised to reveal Darth Vader's origin story. However, expectations were so high that there were many longtime fans of the franchise who were unhappy with what filmmaker George Lucas dreamed up.
He's maintained that Star Wars is, and always was, made for 12-year-olds, and kids at the time mostly loved the movie (hence why the prequel trilogy now gets a lot more love). For those who found that Episode I didn't resonate with them, Jar Jar Binks quickly became the main target of their frustration.
Websites like JarJarSucks.com and JarJarBinksMustDie.com soon started showing up, while not even actor Ahmed Best was able to escape the backlash.
In an interview with The Guardian (via SFFGazette.com), he reveals that after his phone number was leaked, he soon found his answering machine filling up with abuse and death threats. Between that and claims Jar Jar was a racist stereotype, Best very seriously contemplated taking his own life.
On a foggy night at 3am, he was clinging to the edge of the Brooklyn Bridge and remembers thinking, "'I’ll show all of you. I’ll show you what you’re doing to me. And when I’m gone, then you’ll feel exactly what I went through.'" He added, "'It was terrible. It was the lowest I’ve been in my life."
Realising he wanted to live after a gust of wind prompted him to reach out for a nearby girder, Best managed to find his way back to safety and moved on from Star Wars. Explaining that, as a Black actor, he saw the opportunity to make history by playing the CG Jar Jar (which was groundbreaking technology at the time), Best confessed he was disappointed to see the character sidelined in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
"Here I am, a significant character who changed movies, and then I’m a footnote - I barely appear," he recalls, revealing it played a role in his decision to step out of the spotlight in the years that followed.
However, when the chance to return to Star Wars as The Mandalorian's Jedi Kelleran Beq came his way, Best didn't hesitate to say yes. "It really felt good. As an artist, I lost my confidence for so many years, but The Mandalorian gave me that affirmation of: You were always doing the right thing. It wasn’t you.'"
"I don’t feel like Jar Jar - or I - need redemption. I’m looking at it as our redemption, as the people who love Star Wars."
As for whether he'll ever play Jar Jar again, the actor says, "I would never say never. I don’t feel like Jar Jar’s story was ever closed. But right now, I would like to explore more Kelleran Beq. I’d love to do a Star Wars martial arts show – like a Jedi John Wick."
Sign us up for that! You can hear more from Best in his podcast The Redemption of Jar Jar Binks.