There are a handful of truly legendary figures in theStar Warsuniverse, but Anthony Daniels, the man behind C-3PO, is very near the top of the hill. The man has appeared in every single live-actionStar Warsmovie to date. A streak that is set to continue withStar Wars: The Last Jedi. Another legend, for a different reason, is Ahmed Best, who portrayedJar Jar Binksin theStar Warsprequels. As it turns out, Daniels feels similar to many fans out there, as he admits that he isn’t a fan of the maligned Gungan.
Anthony Daniels recently appeared at Fan Expo 2017 and, as reported bySpace, he discussed Jar Jar Binks a bit. While Daniels wanted to make it clear that he has a lot of respect forAhmed Bestas an actor and that he understands that Jar Jar wasn’t a character meant to resonate with adults, ultimately, he doesn’t like the character. Here’s what he had to say about it.
“Jar Jar was created by George Lucas and he employed an actor, Ahmed Best, who is a terrific actor. Terrific mover. Terrific, inventive brain. Highly intelligent. Did exactly what George asked him to do. George’s son Jett was thrilled by that performance that Ahmed did perfectly, but Jett was 10 years old. Now, I wasn’t, so for me Jar Jar was a bit like the Ewoks. I’ve grown past that stage. 10-year-olds, 11-year-olds, eight-year-olds adored Jar Jar. It was a very, very good thing to do… so I hugely admire Ahmed Best. He got very bad press for doing it… and Jar Jar was not for me.”
C-3POmay have his moments of being borderline annoying, but it is almost always in service of theStar Warsmovie he’s in. When it comes to Jar Jar Binks, even though 10-year-olds may love, or at least did love, the character of Jar Jar, he is pretty inexcusably annoying. Ahmed Best debuted as Jar Jar Binks inStar Wars: The Phantom Menace, which is easily the most hated movie in the entire franchise. Years later, Jar Jar is the single most hated element of theStar Warsprequels, rivaled perhaps only by midichlorians or the abrupt death of Darth Maul. WhileAnthony Danielsdoesn’t have the same deep seeded hate that many fans have, he certainly isn’t a fan of Jar Jar.
The bad reception to Jar Jar Binks resulted in the character showing up less inStar Wars: Attack of the Clonesand a whole lot less inStar Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Recently, in one of the newer expanded universeStar Warsnovels, it was revealed that Jar Jar Binks was essentially shamed into being a street performer after giving Palpatine the powers that led to him becoming the Emperor. While we’ll probably seeC-3PO in Star Wars moviesfor years to come, we’ll almost certainly never see Jar Jar Binks in a galaxy far, far away on the big screen ever again. And that’s definitely for the (ahem, Ahmed) best.
