5 May 2024<\/time>\n<\/p>\nAhmed Best says he was frozen out of Hollywood amid the hate he got for his portrayal of Jar Jar Binks in \u2018Star Wars: Episode I\u2019.<\/p>\n
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Ahmed Best says he was frozen out of Hollywood amid the hate he got for his portrayal of Jar Jar Binks in \u2018Star Wars: Episode I\u2019<\/p>\n
The actor made history in 1999 playing the clumsy Gungan alien \u2013 but was hammered with abuse from fans, critics and commentators, with many arguing the character was based on stereotypes of black people, especially Jamaicans.<\/p>\n
Ahmed \u2013 who is now a teacher and co-founder of anti-oppression organisation the AfroRithm Futures Group \u2013 told People about the fallout he suffered from the role: \u201cEverybody came for me. I\u2019m the first person to do this kind of work, but I was also the first black person; black man.”<\/p>\n
\u201c(It was) the first textbook case of cyber bullying.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really wasn\u2019t easy. I was very young. I was 26. And it\u2019s hard to have this idea that the thing you\u2019ve been working all your life for, you finally get it and you\u2019re finally in the big leagues and the highest level of the game, and you hold your own.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAll of these years you\u2019re just like, \u2018I belong at the top of the game. I belong at the highest level.\u2019<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAnd then all of a sudden people pull the rug out from under you. And I was just like, \u2018What is happening now?\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
\nHe added about struggling to get another job amid the Jar Jar backlash: \u201cMy career began and ended. I didn\u2019t know what to do, and unfortunately there was really no one that could help me, because it was such a unique position; it had never happened before in history.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cEspecially with the Internet component. Now there\u2019s an entire field of psychology based on (the effects of trolling.) <\/p>\n
\n\u201cBut at the time, what do I say to a psychologist? I just tried to do the best job that I could do.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cBut George (Lucas) is untouchable and everybody was untouchable. Who wasn\u2019t untouchable? Me. Everyone came at me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nAhmed spoke out as \u2018Star Wars: Episode I \u2013 The Phantom Menace\u2019 heads back into cinemas to mark the 25th anniversary of its release.<\/p>\n
\nHe\u2019s previously opened up about how he contemplated suicide over the Jar Jar controversy as he walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.<\/p>\n
\nAhmed told People about why he decided not to end his life: \u201cI didn\u2019t want to hurt my family like that.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cSo it was something bigger than me that made me walk away. I still was lost. I still couldn\u2019t find my footing, and I just felt the injustice of it all.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cHow could I have achieved such a wonderful thing, and then nothing? Nothing. I was longing to continue. I wanted to continue this work. I wanted to continue moving in this direction and seeing what the CGI thing could turn into.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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