Star Wars: Jar Jar Binks actor says he'll never return, "I've done my damage"

“I think I’ve done my damage. I’m good with where I stand in the Star Wars universe.”

Jar Jar Binks as seen in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (Lucasfilm/20th Century Fox)

Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best has said he'll never return to the Star Wars universe, even if he's asked. 

Speaking to filmmaker Jamie Stangroom, behind YouTube's 'These Are the Actor You're Looking For' channel, the actor confessed; “I think I’ve done my damage. I’m good with where I stand in the Star Wars universe. I’d say no. I think I did what I did, I thought it was great, it was fun, but now it’s time to move on.”

Speaking frankly about his past experiences, he admitted it's hard sometimes not to take criticisms of his character personally, "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," he stated. "So when your work is criticised negatively, you feel a hit."

"It didn’t’ put me off Star Wars but yeah it was painful. I mean, this character for me and one of the biggest reasons I took was because of the challenge of it - there was no Andy Serkis and Gollum, Na'vi from Avatar. I was to be the template for this, so I was kinda working with George [Lucas] to pioneer this new character form of acting and storytelling. On set, we were all just so focused not the challenge of it and having so much fun that the post-Star Wars stuff was a surprise."

“I can totally understand why [Jar Jar was hated by fans], because when they see a character that’s purely comical and purely for the children, they probably felt condescend to. I can understand that they wanted a more serious story, but by the same token, the children really like it. And George’s idea was to make a film that lasted for 30 years, not one, so the children who saw Phantom Menace are now adults and they’re kind of wondering why everyone had a problem with Jar Jar? And the parents explain why!”

Stangroom's series is looking to revisit a whole host of supporting performances from the Star Wars franchise, including Paul Blake (Greedo) and Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar).

Thankfully, Best's career hasn't been too damaged by Jar Jar's legacy. He's currently set to star alongside Seth Green in Seth MacFarlane's new project, 2 Black Dudes. Meesa glad for him.