Ahmed Best (born August 19, 1973) is an American actor, comedian and musician. He is known for providing the voice and motion capture for the character Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars franchise.
Best is the younger brother of Dunia Best Sinnreich, lead singer and co-founder of Brave New Girl, Dubistry and Agent 99 and formerly with The Slackers.
Career
1994-1995: Early work
In 1994, Best joined the acid jazz group the Jazzhole. He contributed to the success of the group for two years. He co-wrote and co-produced three albums for the group including The Jazzhole, And the Feeling Goes Around, and The Beat is the Bomb. In 1995, he co-wrote and co-produced Escape by Bill Evans.
In 1995, he joined the Obie Award-winning cast of Stomp. He toured with the cast of Stomp throughout the US and Europe.[4]
1997-2019: Star Wars prequel trilogy and reappraisal
Initially, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace received mixed reviews however the film became the highest grossing film of 1999 and the highest-grossing Star Wars film at the time of its release. Best said he put a lot of himself into the character, so when Jar Jar drew hostility from audiences, it sometimes extended toward the actor or he otherwise interpreted it personally. Best reprised his role in the following two films rounding up the prequel trilogy but appeared in few scenes. The character of Jar Jar Binks was so disliked that Best considered suicide.[7][8][9] This evoked support from fans and some of the cast including Frank Oz and Star Wars: The Last Jedi film director, Rian Johnson.[9] Oz said, "I just will never understand the harshness of people's dislike of [Jar Jar Binks]. I do character work. He is a GREAT character!"[9] Johnson tweeted, ""Lots of love to you Ahmed. I think there are many of us who'd get quite a lot from hearing your story."[9]
Following a reappraisal of the prequel trilogy, Anthony Daniels said in his memoirs that "the years have been kinder to this, the first Prequel. Many, who were young at the time, still hold it, and Jar Jar Binks as their dearest memory of the Saga."[10] Daniels praised Best for his "quick-witted humour" during the first Star Wars Celebration held at Denver, Colorado a few weeks before the release of The Phantom Menace.[11] A lot of the cast (including Liam Neeson) and crew defended Best. Neeson who was aware about the criticism Best faced, praised him for his humour and talent. He said that Best "was probably one of the funniest guys and talented guys I have ever worked with."[12]
In 2019, as part of the 20th anniversary, Best cited the audience (The Phantom Menace was aimed for) reaching adulthood and their perspective on the film as some of the reasons for the reappraisal of the prequel trilogy. He said, "the prequels, that's theirs, and they defend the prequels. So I see the same thing. I see the resurgence of The Phantom Menace."[13] Initially, Best was hesitant about attending Star Wars Celebration Chicago in 2019 due to the criticism and spending "most of [his] time defending" the film and his character.[13] However, he was moved by the warm welcome he received from the crowd during the Star Wars Show Live and The Phantom Menace 20th anniversary panel - as well as positive reception and the newfound appreciation for the film.[13][14] George Lucas named Jar Jar as his favourite character and praised Best saying, "Ahmed, you did a fantastic job. It was very, very hard."[14]
Best appeared in the second season of the documentary television series, Light & Magic and talked about the significance of his character (being Lucasfilm's first CGI character), the experience making The Phantom Menace as well as the criticism he faced following the film's release.[16]
2020-present: Return to Star Wars franchise
"I love the mythology of Star Wars more than anything else. I love that I got to be a Jedi Master rather than me, because Ahmed Best is not a part of the Star Wars galaxy. The suspension of disbelief doesn’t happen for the kids if Ahmed Best is the host."[17]
—Ahmed Best talking about Jedi Master Kelleran Beq to Star Wars Insider
In late May 2020, Lucasfilm announced that Best would star as Jedi Master Kelleran Beq in the game show Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge, which premiered in June 2020.[18][19][20][21][22] Best reprised the role of Beq in the third season of The Mandalorian, a live-action series set in the Star Wars universe.[23] His character rescued Grogu from Darth Sidious's Jedi Purge and acted as his protector preceding the Mandalorian.[17][b] Best received praise for his performance from the crew and audience.
Dave Filoni said, "We love Ahmed, and he did such a great job. It was a real thrill for us to get him involved."[24] Filoni and Jon Favreau said that there is a possibility that Best could appear as Kelleran Beq again.[24] Best confirmed that Kelleran Beq is related to Achk Med-Beq.[17] In 2023, when discussing the possibility of playing Jar Jar again, Best said, “I would never say never. I don’t feel like Jar Jar’s story was ever closed”.[25] He has expressed an interest in exploring Kelleran Beq further and doing "a Star Wars martial arts show".[25]
Best has attended several conventions as part of Star Wars Celebration as a guest since 1999.[28][11] He attended Star Wars Celebration Japan in April 2025.[29]
On 11 October 2025, an upcoming Marvel Comics comic book title, Jar Jar Binks #1 was announced at New York Comic Con. Best and Guggenheim will write the issue and it will feature Best's characters, Jar Jar Binks and Kelleran Beq.[30]
On the album Vitality of Expression by Jeff Peretz
"Forms of the Rhythm"
Celebrity EP
as DJ Starfaker
References
Footnotes
↑ Daniels also made a cameo as Lieutenant Dannl Faytonni (in the same scene Achk Med-Beq appeared in) in Attack of the Clones. According to Daniels, both Med-Beq and Faytonni were a criminal partnership.[6] Faytonni appeared in Revenge of the Sith but Med-Beq did not.
↑ The Mandalorian is set five years after the events of Return of the Jedi however, Grogu's flashback of the Jedi Purge takes place concurrently with the events of Revenge of the Sith.
↑ Givens, Roy. "Jar Wars: Fame & Blame", New York Daily News, June 3, 1999. Accessed July 15, 2022. "Best himself was born at Roosevelt Hospital and grew up in the Soundview neighborhood in the Bronx. Best's family moved to Maplewood, N.J."
1 2 "Bio". www.ahmedbest.com. October 20, 2009. Archived from the original on October 20, 2009.
↑ Ryan Scott (September 14, 2020). "Liam Neeson Praises Jar Jar Binks Actor While Defending The Phantom Menace". movieweb.com. MovieWeb. Retrieved October 24, 2025. And I have to say when I was making that film, with Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks and with Ewan McGregor as the young Obi-Wan Kenobi, he was probably one of the funniest guys and talented guys I have ever worked with.
1 2 3 Dan Brooks (May 24, 2019). ""All Films Are Personal": An Oral History of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace". starwars.com. Retrieved October 24, 2025. It was definitely the children -- I had to start looking at Jar Jar through their eyes, and that's what made me smile again. Now those kids are in their 20s and 30s. They have a different perspective on The Phantom Menace. The Phantom Menace, for them, is their Star Wars. [Episodes] IV, V, and VI, that's their parents' Star Wars, and VII, VIII, and IX, that's their kids' Star Wars. But the prequels, that's theirs, and they defend the prequels. So I see the same thing. I see the resurgence of The Phantom Menace and the prequels, and they're getting the attention that I think we wanted them to get 20 years ago. And the same thing with Jar Jar.
1 2 "Star Wars: George Lucas names Jar Jar Binks as his favourite character". BBC News. April 17, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2025. But speaking on Monday, Lucas was full of praise for Best, saying: "Ahmed, you did a fantastic job. It was very, very hard." In response, Best tweeted: "I'm overwhelmed with the love and support I got at today's Star Wars Celebration Phantom Menace panel.
1 2 Alexi Duggins (July 28, 2023). "'The lowest I've ever been': how playing Jar Jar Binks led to abuse, near death – and saving Baby Yoda". theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved October 28, 2025. Given how happy he is with his performance, would he ever play Jar Jar again? "I would never say never. I don't feel like Jar Jar's story was ever closed," says Best. "But right now, I would like to explore more Kelleran Beq. I'd love to do a Star Wars martial arts show – like a Jedi John Wick."
↑ "Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025 - Celebrity Guests". StarWars.com. February 19, 2025. Retrieved April 21, 2025. Ahmed Best, the actor who plays both lovable Gungan Jar Jar Binks and the Jedi Knight Kelleran Beq in the Star Wars galaxy, is coming to Star Wars Celebration Japan this year!
↑ StarWars.com Team (October 11, 2025). "NYCC 2025: All the News and Reveals from the Lucasfilm Publishing Panel". starwars.com. Retrieved October 24, 2025. Master Beq also appears in a special one-shot revealed at NYCC that stars none other than Jar Jar Binks! Co-writers Ahmed Best (who has portrayed both characters on screen in The Mandalorian and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, respectively) and Marc Guggenheim put Binks and Beq in a team-up for the ages in Jar Jar Binks #1.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Ahmed Best (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved April 20, 2025. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
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