For his role as Jar Jar Binks in the “Star Wars” prequels, Ahmed Best got so much hate that he suffered massively from it. He returns in the new episode “The Mandalorian” – in a different role, not for the first time impersonated by him.
In the new episode of “The Mandalorian,” the 20th chapter or fourth episode of Season 3, we learn how Grogu survived Order 66 and escaped Coruscant. A Jedi Master named Kelleran Beq played a crucial role in this. And he is embodied by no stranger: Because as Kelleran Beq, “The Mandalorian” features Ahmed Best.
The actor, voice actor, comedian and musician is an integral part of the “Star Wars” story. For he voiced Jar Jar Binks in “Star Wars: Episode I – III” and suffered heavily from the reactions to it, which also culminated in personal and racist attacks against him.
As Best only made public many years later, the negative reactions to Jar Jar, intensely hated and loathed by many fans, took their toll on him – because they did not stop at the fictional character, but were also directed against the actor behind it. He received death threats, people blamed him for “destroying their childhood”.
It went so far that Best became depressed and thought of suicide. In a video, he explained this 20 years after the release of “The Dark Menace” – Warning: trigger warning for depression and suicide!
Best’s candid words created a storm of support. Numerous “Star Wars” participants declared their solidarity and condemned the hate of toxic fans. Many fan groups also made it clear that this should not happen even to a fanatical following. People even apologised to Best who had once spoken negatively about him or sent him messages.
KELLERAN BEQ: NOT THE FIRST TIME TO BE SEEN IN “THE MANDALORIAN “
Best then made his “Star Wars” comeback in a new role some time later. In the YouTube children’s game show “Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge”, released in 2020, he took on the role of the Jedi Master Kelleran Beq for the first time, who is also a relative of Achk Med-Beq, whom Best embodied in a short mini-cameo in “Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones” in addition to Jar Jar Binks.
Since Kelleran Beq takes care of the Jedi offspring in the game show, it is only logical that this is also his task in “The Mandalorian”. But above all, he proves that he is an absolute badass Jedi, who defends himself against the advancing clone troopers with two lightsabres at once, shakes everyone off in a wild chase over Coruscant and then escapes all enemies with the spaceship once again to bring Grogu to safety.
