He's taking more headlines hey, loves the spotlight this guy… but this time it's good news! Jar Jar's voice actor has confirmed he will not be returning to the franchise.
The clumsy character is well established among Star Wars fans as one of the most hated characters in the franchise, with people not really buying into the heavy use of CGI throughout the prequels.
Voice actor Ahmed Best appeared in an interview with Jamie Stangroom for his YouTube web series 'These Are the Actors You're Looking For', unveiling some information about working on Star Wars, fan backlash and much more.
"I think I've done my damage. I'm good with where I stand in the Star Wars universe," Best said."I don't need to go back. If asked I'd say no."
Confirmation of Jar Jar's departure from the series should but some minds at rest, for now, with some quite hilarious theories being drawn up by fans of late. One included the idea that Jar Jar Binks was actually a Sith, disguised in the prequels as this childish character but with a greater motive.
Star Wars had never expected such animosity towards Jar Jar, and Best believes there are a few reasons that might have led to such disapproval from the franchise's faithful.
“Star Wars was my first 'most hated' title in anything really."
“It was painful. One of the biggest reasons I took it was because of the challenge of it – there was no Andy Serkis and Gollum, Navi from Avatar, Martians, John Carter."
“I was to be the template for this, so I was kinda working with George to pioneer this new character form of acting and storytelling. On set we were all just so focused on the challenge of it and having so much fun that the post-Star Wars stuff was a surprise.
“Even though you play characters, you put a lot of your own personality into it, you get emotionally and personally invested in the work that you do, it's your work and you take pride in it. So when your work is criticised negatively, you feel a hit.”
The launch of Star Wars: The Force Awakens sparked huge sales in merchandise. Products ranging from t-shirts, collector cups, lunch boxes and other promotional items were purchased by fans across the world. However, Ahmed Best believes the merchandise for Jar Jar Binks didn't exactly help the character.
"The worst one was a lollipop dispenser, that was ridiculous. I saw that thing and ran. That was bad, the head of marketing actually called me to apologise for that one.”
"Still, when it comes down to it Best says he can see why fans didn’t take to the character – and there’s no hard feelings. “I can totally understand why, because when [fans] saw a character that's purely comical and purely for the children, they probably felt condescended to,” Best said.
