The Mandalorian is the place for Star Wars fans who love a good comeback. From original trilogy characters to newbies who've only been in the franchise a few years, the excitement levels are always high for them all. But there was scarcely a more heartwarming instance of this phenomenon than a recent episode that saw the triumphant return of Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best.
The Mandalorian season 3, episode 4, on Disney Plus saw the introduction of Jedi Knight Kelleran Beq as the finally-unveiled mystery figure who saved little Grogu during the Order 66 attack on the Jedi Temple. Beq was played by veteran Star Wars actor and all-around decent dude Best, whom many will mostly remember as the voice and motion capture performer behind Jar Jar Binks in the prequel trilogy. But not only is Kelleran now in the running for best (pun intended) new Star Wars character, he's also not even all that new.
In an interview with StarWars.com, Best went into detail about the character of Kelleran and how he was created. The Jedi Knight, also known as "The Sabered Hand," was first introduced in the 2020 children's game show Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge as the show's host. Loosely based on actual Star Wars canon, the show saw him lead the young contestants through challenges as part of a Jedi training course. Best not only played the canon character, but he also helped create Kelleran. (Fun fact, Best also played a background character in Attack of the Clones named Achk Med-Beq, whose name inspired that of Kelleran Beq.)
"I went in deep with Kelleran Beq," Best explained. "It's really special to me. Kelleran Beq was a character in name that I created, I came up with, was really encouraged by the Jedi Temple Challenge team and the StarWars.com team. Everyone just was so graceful in embracing my crazy ideas and bringing it forward, and to see that then migrate over to The Mandalorian is really super special." As for why he thinks Kelleran was a good choice to be the one who rescues the deceptively powerful Grogu in the Jedi Temple, Best continued, saying, "I see Kelleran as this journeyman Jedi who becomes a professor, who wants to be a teacher. Not a reluctant teacher, not someone who's thrown into teaching. Who wants to influence, who wants to show Padawans how to become a greater version of themselves."
Best went through a huge amount of turmoil and trauma due to the overblown audience response to his famously divisive time as Jar Jar Binks. But while he admitted that the character's backlash put him in an extremely dark place, almost to the point of suicide, he still seems to respect the role and what it represents. "Jar Jar changed movies, and I don’t think Jar Jar gets a lot credit for changing movies," Best went on. "But Jar Jar was the first CGI main character in movie history. There had been other CGI characters, but the evolution of the fact that you can star as a CGI character, and an actor in performance capture, was really George [Lucas], was really Jar Jar and ILM and all of us, and it was a significant change in movies. To be a part of that is enormous for me. Especially me coming from the South Bronx — this corny, artsy, nerdy, skinny kid, where Star Wars was the first movie I had ever seen in my life."
Star Wars is more than just cool lightsabers. It's now full of opportunities, and Best wants to keep taking them. "As a writer, as a director now, as a teacher now, there is so much more that I want to do that this universe is perfect for, that I don’t want this to be the end of legacy," he concluded. "I don't want this to be the end of the story. I want this to be the beginning, and a new beginning. Especially through Kelleran Beq."
The Mandalorian season 3 releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney Plus and Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge can be streamed on the Star Wars Kids YouTube channel.
Source: StarWars.com