the echoes of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace they still resonate 24 years after the film’s release in theaters around the world. George Lucas’s prequel trilogy raised many blisters, but the disappointment caused by the adventure in which first appeared Jar Jar Binks it was huge.
The actor who had to play the role of the Naboo character was Ahmed Best, who has chatted with The Guardian to remember what that impact was emotionally for him. “It was terrible. It was the lowest moment of my life,” explains the interpreter, who came to look out over the Brooklyn Bridge with the intention of committing suicide.
“I’ll show all of you. I’ll show you what you’re doing to me. And When I’m gone you’ll feel exactly what I went through“, remembers Best, although fortunately he decided not to jump. The truth is that “I was a big fan of Star Wars when I was a kid,” admits Best, who had all kinds of merchandising from the galactic saga when he was little. After participating in a casting, he was selected to play Jar Jar Binks using a voice that he used to entertain his little cousins.
Its relevance in the history of cinema is much greater than what is believed, since it was his role that practically invented motion capture. “Even the software was written on my body. There’s still that legacy code in CGI packages today. My physical DNA is in every single CGI character ever since,” Best says. But the dream was ruined
The Conan O’Brien Show commented on the expectations around The Phantom Menace and they aimed directly at the character as the main point of conflict, even before it was screened. The subsequent release unleashed the hate spree we’re all familiar with, with internet forums flooding with negative comments, and Best’s answering machine continually receiving death threats. The critical point came when Jar Jar Binks began to be accused of being a racist character, due to his bad and vulgar English, which affected Best terribly.
Of African descent and a strong defender of the rights of African-Americans, for Best that was too much and he ended up climbing the Brooklyn Bridge with the idea of putting an end to everything. A gust of wind almost knocked him over, he grabbed a beam and realized that he really wanted to live. Now with the third season of The Mandalorian, has achieved its particular redemption. “It really felt good… As an artist, I lost my confidence for many years, but The Mandalorian gave me that affirmation of ‘You were always doing the right thing… It wasn’t you,” the actor recounts.
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2023-07-31 10:14:25
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