It's interesting to see how over the years the Star Wars movies have changed, and in some cases destroyed, the careers of their actors. There's Anthony Daniels, who begrudgingly put on that uncomfortable gold metal suit to play C-3PO for decades. He's the only actor who's appeared in every film, and still holds an animosity toward the character and the series. Jake Lloyd, the kid who played young Anakin Skywalker in Episode I, acted in one other movie and then led police on a high speed chase before he was arrested last year. After two films as older Skywalker, Hayden Christensen's acting career has been, well, lackluster. George Lucas, the guy who created the whole damn thing, is bitterly sitting on an unbelievable fortune, watching Disney improve the entire formula.
And then there's Ahmed Best, the guy who played dumbass rabbit alien Jar Jar Binks. Though there's no real way to quantify these things, Jar Jar may very well be the most hated character in film history. Jamie Stangroom, whose YouTube series catches up with former Star Wars actors, tracked down Best for this seriously depressing interview. So, how does he feel about being so widely despised?
"It was painful. This character for me, and one of the biggest reasons that I took it, was that it hadn't been done before. 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 criticized negatively, you feel a hit."
Before he was Jar Jar, Best was a completely normal, not-hated actor in Stomp. He's never been The Most Hated anything since, but he totally understands why most every fan loathed the character.
"When fans see a character that's purely comical and purely for the children, they felt probably a bit condescended to. And I can understand how they wanted more a more serious story...But by the same token The children really liked it. And George's idea was to make a movie that lasted for 20-30 years, not to make a movie that lasted for one. So the children who saw Phantom Menace are now adults and they're kind of wondering why everybody had a problem with Jar Jar."
And the Star Wars prequels aren't the only things that would be better off being obliterated from this planet; there's also the masses of Jar Jar-themed merchandise. And the worst is this really horrible and awkward looking lollipop.
"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 apologize for that one."
Luckily, Best confirms that Jar Jar Binks will never return: "No, I think I've done my damage."
