wikipediaIt seem that everyone hates poor Jar Jar Binks even the actor who played him.
In a YouTube interview with Star Wars fan Jamie Stangroom, Ahmed Best, the actor who brought Jar Jar to life has confessed that he gets why fans don’t like the bumbling Gungan saying it was probably a bit ‘condescending’.
He said:
When [fans] see a character that’s purely comical and purely for the children, they felt probably a bit condescended to. And I can understand how they wanted more a more serious story.
The story of Jar Jar’s actually quite heart breaking, according to Entertainment Weekly Best was beloved on set and almost everyone involved in the production of The Phantom Menace thought that he was going to become a fan favourite.
So when Jar Jar became one of the most hated characters in cinematic history it was initially a shock.
Best explained his reaction to Stangroom:
It didn’t put me off Star Wars… but yeah it was painful.
You put a lot of your own personality into it and you get emotionally and personally invested into the work that you do. It’s your work and you take pride in your work.
Best’s a former stage actor who was performing Stomp when he was cast as Jar Jar Binks, and was initially hired to just perform the physicality of the character like David Prowse as Darth Vader in the original trilogy.
However he was later given the job of providing Jar Jar’s infamous voice from the six options that Best gave to Lucas.
Although he understands why the character’s so hated, Best is still proud of his work.
He says that ‘the children really liked it.’ And claims that Lucas wanted to make a film that lasted for 20-30 years, not one that lasted for only a year.
He says:
So the children who saw Phantom Menace are now adults and they’re kind of wondering why everybody had a problem with Jar Jar.
Stangroom did ask whether Best had any plans to return to the franchise and he explained, ‘No, I think I’ve done my damage,’ before hilariously agreeing to use the Jar Jar voice one last time to perform Liam Neeson’s Taken monologue, which needs to be seen to be believed.
Personally I think it’s time to stop the Jar Jar hatred, undeniably he was shit but so was most of The Phantom Menace and at least Best tried to do his job and make Jar Jar likable. Unlike George Lucas who seemingly wrote one draft of the script and thought ‘Ahh, fuck it that’ll do.’
Seriously though The Phantom Menace is a pretty flawed film for a number of reasons but Jar Jar isn’t the main one he’s just the most obvious and that’s why he’s a target for a lot of fan boy hate. But honestly do you really think he’s worse than Anakin’s dialogue or the fucking nonsensical plot.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.