Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, and the rest of the Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace cast loved Ahmed Best’s Jar Jar Binks voice despite it not going down well with fans.
Speaking to People as The Phantom Menace was re-released in theatres for its 25th anniversary, Best said his performance, which he believes triggered “the first textbook case of cyber bullying” as fans harassed him, initially received nothing but positive reviews from his castmates.
He debuted the voice during a table read with the full cast, though Best admitted he was very nervous. “This was the first time I was going to do the Jar Jar voice in front of people, and to be honest, I didn’t know if I was going to do it at that reading or not,” he said.
“As I’m reading as the first few pages go by, I’m in my head. ‘Do I do this voice? Do I not do this voice? What do I do?’ Liam has this wonderfully resonant Irish, mid-Atlantic voice that will just melt you.
“So I was just like, ‘Everybody sounds so good. Am I going to do this voice or not?’ And then I see the character name coming up and I was like, ‘F**k it.’ And I just do it. And everybody in the room goes crazy for it. So I was like, ‘Okay, all right. I got that one out. I’m supposed to be here now.'”
When The Phantom Menace debuted in theatres, however, and even in the lead-up following the release of some trailers, criticism began to emerge. “When you come out of that bubble, you’re like, ‘Oh man, everybody’s going to enjoy what we just did, because if you feel the way we felt while we were creating, it’s going to be amazing’,” Best said.
The negative reaction therefore came as a shock which Best has previously said has affected his life and career ever since. But the backlash has somewhat dimmed over the past few years, with even Obi-Wan Kenobi actor McGregor saying there’s now a “wave of positivity” about the Prequel Trilogy.
Best has enjoyed his own resurgence too after appearing in a new role in The Mandalorian more than two decades after his debut as Jar Jar, and he showed up at Star Wars Celebration 2023 to nothing but cheers and support from the audience too.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
