Ahmed Best during a talk session at the Sundance Film Festival, 2023.
Photo: Getty Images, Michael Tullberg. All rights reserved.
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Ahmed Best’s acting career began and ended with the Star Wars prequels. He went down in history as the man behind Jar Jar Binks, one of the most hated and despised characters in all of the sprawling Star Wars canon.
Nevertheless, Best, who, as he reports, became depressed at times after his role and all the hostilities, has returned to the world of the space fairy tale – as the Jedi Knight Kelleran Beq. In the “The Mandalorian” episode released yesterday (March 22), he saves Grogu, better known as “Baby Yoda”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNeYWQ_ZoV0
The 48-year-old already had the role in 2020 – in ten episodes of the children’s game show “Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge”, which was first broadcast on Disney + and then on the YouTube channel “Star Wars Kids”.
In a 2019 interview, the actor described the sprawling consequences of the role George Lucas cast for him. “The depression hit me hard. I was just broken. […] I was tired of explaining myself. Tired of having to defend myself and my work. Tired of having to fight racism and racist stereotypes. I just wanted to play a role. I was finished.”
It is not yet clear whether he will return in further episodes of the current “The Mandalorian” season, but it is not unlikely. It will continue to air weekly on Disney+ through April 19.
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