Ahmed Best, who famously played Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars prequels, returned to live-action Star Wars in Season 3.
via: People
In the latest episode of the Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian “Chapter 20: The Foundling,” Best, 49, made a cameo appearance as a Jedi named Kelleran Beq. The actor appeared in a flashback scene showing events that took place during Revenge of the Sith (2005), as Jedi-affiliated clone troopers turned on their Jedi generals amid the series’ famed Order 66, which largely wiped out the mystical Jedi order.
The scene shows Kelleran Beq escaping an attack from the clones and saving a young Grogu decades before the character initially appeared in The Mandalorian’s first season.
“Gratitude! Good to be back. There is so much to say and share,” Best wrote in the caption of an Instagram post he shared as the episode released on Wednesday.
“It’s going to take a couple of days,” he added in the caption. “But, for now, I’ll just say thank you to all that have held me up and made me better.”
Best previously portrayed Jar Jar Binks, who has been cited by Forbes as the first fully computer-generated supporting character in a feature film, in The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith.
Jar Jar Binks was received so poorly by fans upon the films’ release to the degree that Best has said in recent years that he even considered taking his own life due to backlash he received over the comedic relief character.
“I don’t talk a lot about my experience as #jarjarbinks because a lot of it is very painful,” the actor wrote in a July 2018 Instagram post featuring a photo of himself and his son looking over a bridge. “I faced a media backlash that still affects my career today. This was the place I almost ended my life. It’s still hard to talk about.”
Back in 2017, Best told Wired in an interview that he “had death threats through the internet,” after his first appearance as Jar Jar soured some longtime Star Wars fans’ relationship with the franchise.
“I had people come to me and say, ‘You destroyed my childhood.’ That’s difficult for a 25-year-old to hear,” he added. “There were a lot of tears, there was a lot of pain, there was a lot of s— I had to deal with. Everybody else went on. Everybody else worked. Everybody else was accepted by the zeitgeist.”
