Jar Jar Binks is probably the most despised character in the Star Wars Universe, but recent headlines about Binks have caught our attention. Despite how much the well-meaning Gungan is loathed by people, recent updates about the character and the actor are quite intriguing and probably worth looking into.
First up is the theory of Darth Jar Jar Binks, which posits that the Gungan is really an evil Sith Lord who’s manipulating the evil turnout of events in the prequels. His clumsy and seemingly useless personality is allegedly just a ruse to throw off the Jedi Order. The theory further expounds how Jar Jar gave Palpatine the power to rise the ranks.
Well, according to Ahmed Best, the actor who voiced Jar Jar, the crazy fan theory could be linked to a real storyline planned for the character’s future.
In a recent interview with YouTuber Jamie Stangroom, the 42-year-old actor revealed that there’s actually a lot more to Jar Jar than meets the eye.
Best explained:
What I can say about it is – and I kinda said this on Twitter –there's a lot about it that's true. There are some things that are not true. Could Jar Jar have evolved into that? I think the answer is yes. Because of the backlash, and rightfully so, Lucasfilm backed off from Jar Jar a lot. But a lot of the influence I put into the character mirrored a lot of what was already in the Star Wars universe.
So, was there an official Darth Jar Jar in the works? That’s really a George Lucas question, I cannot answer that question.
Apparently, there’s a deleted scene where Palpatine thanks Jar Jar for helping him rise to power.
Best further explained:
It was just me and Palpatine walking down the runway, talking about the plans to turn the Empire into what it had turned out to be.
It was a very dark, very personal, very quiet scene, but for some reason, Palpatine decided to confide in Jar Jar that pretty much he was going to wreak havoc. Wherever that scene is, somewhere, that would really give great credibility to the Darth Jar Jar theory.
Unless George Lucas himself confirms it, I guess we’ll never truly know if this is true. There wasn’t really a chance for the character to be explored in the first place, even in The Force Awakens. This brings me to the second headline, which Best also revealed in the interview.
Apparently, Director J.J. Abrams decided to cut out Jar Jar in the latest Star Wars installment due to public backlash.
Best exclaimed:
There was nothing like it before and nobody wanted to take the risk on me, the actor.
[Motion capture] didn’t really become a thing until Andy Serkis did it, and then people realised this is a viable thing. Before that the only example people had was me. LucasFilm didn’t really promote me the actor as much as WETA and Peter Jackson promoted Andy Serkis the actor.
In other words, the effect of the Jar Jar backlash was disastrous for the actor’s career. Casting agents didn’t recognise him because of the CGI or they didn’t want to hire him because of the backlash itself.
Ahmed said:
I wanted to be a character actor, I wanted to disappear into these roles. I didn’t want to be known as me,” he says. “When I did, it was really about the technology.
So people really didn’t know that the guy behind it really was a character actor. When I moved out to LA it was incredibly difficult. No one recognised me. It did inhibit me from getting other work.
Check out the entire interview below:
Hopefully, Ahmed will eventually come into his own. The actor has only starred in a handful of films following the Star Wars role. He’s since focused on theater and commercials. However, anything is possible in the Star Wars universe. Maybe Darth Jar Jar could still be realized.
Ahmed did make a very good impression of Darth Jar Jar recently.
Check it out:
Ahmed Best is set to star in Seth McFarlane’s comedy, 2 Black Dudes.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will hit theaters on December 16, while Star Wars: Episode VIII releases on December 15, 2017.
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