It’s good times for Star Wars fans with the simultaneous releases every Wednesday of The Mandalorian and the animated series Bad Batch. In particular, the first continues to amaze fans with the adventures that the beloved Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and little Grogu go through in this installment.
Now, one of those events that touches the heart has occurred, since episode four of the third season, entitled “The Foundling”, has had the special appearance of a relatively new character, although this time played in the flesh by an actor. already well known in the saga.
Is about Ahmed Best, who played the CGI character, Jar Jar Binks, in the prequel saga from the early 2000s. Now, without wanting to give away too many spoilers, Best plays Jedi Knight Kelleran Beq during a flashback sequence Grogu has in the episode.
This cameo becomes truly special when you consider Ahmed’s harsh past with the George Lucas-created saga and his very effusive fan base. And it is that during the era of these prequels, which never caught on with the oldest fans of the saga, much less with critics, Best’s character, Jar Jar, was probably the one who took the brunt of the global rejection.
In an interview in 2019, Best opened up about how the public’s reaction to his character affected him so much that he even considered suicide.:
“It hit me hard. He came right towards me. I was called every racial stereotype you can imagine. There was this criticism of the broken Jamaican dialect, which was offensive because I’m of West Indian descent, I’m not Jamaican. It was debilitating. I didn’t know how to respond. Depression hit me. Strong. It was broken. The only thing I could think of to make myself feel better was to cross the Brooklyn Bridge. But this time, when I crossed the bridge, I didn’t see the lights of Manhattan. I didn’t see the towers [o] the potential of hard work and ingenuity. I did not see anything; I only saw fog. I felt tired of having to explain myself. I felt tired of having to defend myself and my work. I felt tired of having to fight racism and racial stereotypes. I just wanted to play a part. I was exhausted,” he told Variety back then.
Over the years, since the last Star Wars film in this trilogy was released more than 15 years ago, Best managed to recover from such an anemic low and reconcile his connection with the George Lucas material, working on other projects of the franchise before its consecration with this cameo in Mandalorian, which was received very positively by fans on the networks.
Ahmed Best was bullied by toxic fanboys to the point of contemplating suicide for his portrayal of Jar Jar Binks. Twenty years later and he’s now the Jedi Knight who saves Grogu from Order 66.
You love to see it. pic.twitter.com/Ta9PH1J69q
— Comrade Sisko 🖖🏾✊🏿☭ (@Pinko69420) March 22, 2023
Star Wars owed it to Ahmed Best. He received all kinds of insults for his role as Jar Jar, to the point that he considered taking his own life. Hopefully he can receive from the fandom all the love that he did not receive in his day ♥ ️ #TheMandalorian #StarWars pic.twitter.com/7WEmHpjbJZ
— Elena ✨ (@elenaskywalker_) March 22, 2023