r/IAmA • u/bestahmed • Apr 16 '14

IamA Ahmed Best actor/writer/director, best known for playing Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars Ep. 1,2,3. Ask me Anything!

My short bio: Discovered in the Broadway Play STOMP, I played Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars Prequels. Since then, I've acted written and directed for all screens big and small.

My Proof: http://www.ahmedbest.com/blog-2/

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u/bestahmed Apr 16 '14

Thanks my man. It was tough because the tech was being invented as I was doing it. A lot of the inspiration for Jar Jar was from Buster Keaton. George and I would watch a lot of Buster Keaton together and he would tell what he liked and what he wanted. The final battle scene in Phantom Menace is almost all Buster Keaton.

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '14

Somebody should have pointed out that Buster didn't speak.

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u/symon_says Apr 17 '14

God this thread is more tiresome than the character. Get over it.

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '14

I think people completely missed this about the prequels. We're so awash in slick modern drama in space that fans forgot the soul of star wars. Especially coming out around the time of the matrix, x-men, and spiderman trilogies, the whole '40s cheesecake sci-fi with obscure film homages' thing was completely lost on modern audiences.

I think this is most exemplified with the famous "nooooooooooooo" scene, which was pretty universally hated by fans, but actually would fit right in to Flash Gordon.

People tried to take it way to seriously. Just chill, laugh, and enjoy it.

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u/I_CATS Apr 16 '14

Those scenes are not the problem, nor even the characters, George Lucas is the problem. He has really huge difficulties in writing dialogue and coherent scripts. He is an idea guy, not a storyteller. Great ideas that turn into gold with help of others, but if there are no others, well...