No one foresaw the negative reaction prior to release.
In fact, the cast found Ahmed Best delightful.
Ahmed had Ewan and me in stitches most days, says Liam Neeson.
Credit: Lucasfilm
They could not have been more wrong.
When the reviews finally rolled out, Best was stunned at the sheer force of the enmity.
Especially jarring to Best were the charges that his character was a racist stereotype.
Lucasfilm
To this day, these charges confuse Best rather than anger him.
According to Lucas, Jar Jars speech patterns (Meesa called Jar Jar Binks.
In fact, Lucas says, some of his son Jetts baby talk even ended up as words.
EW
(The term Gungan is what Jett used to call cars.)
McGregor and other cast members rallied to his defense.
McGregor says, If theres any criticism, it shouldnt fall on Ahmeds shoulders.
Because he did exactly what he was asked to do.
He did it very, very well.
He gave a great performance.
Part of theStar Warsaudience agrees with that assessment: the younglings.
Kids really relate to Jar Jar because hes a kids character, plain and simple, says Best.
And thats who the movie is for.
So if kids like it, I did my job.
Then when we didReturn of the Jedi, everybody was completely disgusted with the Ewoks.
No, never, he says emphatically.
Im proud of it, Im glad I did it, and Id do it again.
Im proud George had enough faith in me to say, You, kid!
You do it and put me on a stage thats the biggest youll ever get.
I appreciate every minute of it.
