Apparently Star Wars fans could use a reminder that the characters in the movies are *not real.*
In an interview for the new YouTube series These Are the Actors You’re Looking For, Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best detailed the misery that befell him at the hands of rabid Star Wars fans who despised the Star Wars prequel character. And because he did feel like he had a hand in helping to create the character, the unexpected backlash stung.
“It was painful. One of the biggest reasons I took it was because of the challenge of i — there was no Andy Serkis and Gollum, Navi from Avatar…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…So when your work is criticized negatively, you feel a hit.”
Best said he suspected early on that Jar Jar Binks would not be well-received. “During the first round of media … the questions were so outlandish, I didn’t even know what they were coming from.”
Still, Best said he understood why audiences didn’t take to Binks.
“When they saw a character who was purely comical, and purely for the children, they felt a bit condescended to.”
See? He gets it. So what do you say — let’s give this guy a break. He seems pretty cool.
