There’s Going To Be A One-Man Show About Star Wars’ Worst Character
Star Wars actor Ahmed Best is developing a one-man show about Jar Jar Binks.
Jar Jar Binks, perhaps the single most hated and controversial character in the entire Star Wars universe, is to be the subject of a one-man play from Ahmed Best, the actor who portrayed him in George Lucas’ prequel trilogy of films. According to a recent Twitter post by Ahmed Best, the actor stated “I think it’s time for my version of how it all went down, ” revealing an image of a script titled Untitled One Man Show. Ahmed Best included a number of hashtags, referencing Jar Jar Binks, Star Wars, fandom, prequels, “mystory,” and most intriguingly, “Darth Jar Jar.”
Ahmed Best portrayed Jar Jar Binks in all three Star Wars prequel films, beginning with 1999’s The Phantom Menace. Prior to his involvement with the celebrated space opera franchise, he had worked as a jazz musician and a performer in the famous percussion group Stomp, which directly led to his casting as the gangly, accident-prone Gungan comedic relief in the first prequel. While Jar Jar Binks was one of the main characters in The Phantom Menace and highly forefronted as part of the child-friendly appeal of the film, he was swiftly received with massive backlash from critics and fans alike.
Accordingly, the role of Jar Jar Binks was diminished to a much smaller part in Attack of the Clones and a single-line appearance in Revenge of the Sith, and has not been acknowledged by the new Disney films at all. Ahmed Best has been candid that the backlash towards the character affected him personally, causing him to avoid fan celebrations for years and even contemplate suicide. However, in recent years, he has come to embrace both Jar Jar Binks and his role in the Star Wars universe more openly and even hosted a web-based children’s game as a Jedi Master in 2020.
While there are few details available about the one-man show that Ahmed Best is developing, it seems certain that it will examine his experience portraying Jar Jar Binks, the production of the prequel films, and the career fallout involved. That he hashtagged “Darth Jar Jar” also seems to hint that he will address the popular fan theory that the character was secretly an agent of the evil Sith in the prequels, undermining the heroes from within.
This particular theory of Jar Jar Binks as a covert evil first appeared on Reddit in 2015, with a user providing an extensive theory that the Gungan had been intended to be revealed as a major antagonist over the course of the trilogy. According to this theory, the hostile response to Jar Jar Binks caused George Lucas to rewrite the movies post-Phantom Menace, with the character of Count Dooku (portrayed by the legendary Christopher Lee) being introduced as a replacement. While George Lucas has never confirmed this, the theory was widely covered in the media and has had some part in the recent critical reappraisal of the prequel trilogy.
For his part, Ahmed Best has claimed in interviews that there was some truth to the idea of Darth Jar Jar Binks, so it will be interesting to see what his new show might reveal.
