Ahmed Best

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Ahmed Best (born August 19, 1973) is an American actor, comedian and musician. He is known for providing the voice and motion capture for the character Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars franchise.

Best likewise collaborated with director George Lucas in three films and seven episodes of the animated show, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He won the Annie Award for Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production for portraying Jar Jar Binks in Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II.

Early life

Ahmed Best was born in New York City on August 19, 1973.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Born in Roosevelt Hospital, he lived the majority of his formative years in the Soundview section of the Bronx, before moving to Maplewood, New Jersey in 1984.<ref>Givens, Roy. "Jar Wars: Fame & Blame", New York Daily News, June 3, 1999. Accessed July 15, 2022. "Best himself was born at Roosevelt Hospital and grew up in the Soundview neighborhood in the Bronx. Best's family moved to Maplewood, N.J."</ref> He attended Columbia High School, graduating in 1991. He then studied percussion at the Manhattan School of Music.<ref name=OfficialBio>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Best is the younger brother of Dunia Best Sinnreich, lead singer and co-founder of Brave New Girl, Dubistry and Agent 99 and formerly with The Slackers.

Career

In 1994, Best joined the acid jazz group the Jazzhole. He contributed to the success of the group for two years. He co-wrote and co-produced three albums for the group including The Jazzhole, And the Feeling Goes Around, and The Beat is the Bomb. In 1995, he co-wrote and co-produced Escape by Bill Evans.

In 1995, he joined the Obie Award-winning cast of Stomp. He toured with the cast of Stomp throughout the US and Europe.<ref name=OfficialBio />

In 1997, after casting director Robin Gurland had observed his flexible, athletic movements in Stomp, Ahmed was cast as Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars prequel trilogy (1999–2005). He reprised the role in the Robot Chicken specials Robot Chicken: Star Wars and Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and an episode of Stephen Colbert's The Colbert Report.Template:Episode needed Best said he put a lot of himself into the character, so when Jar Jar drew hostility from audiences, it sometimes extended toward the actor or he otherwise interpreted it personally. The character of Jar Jar Binks was so disliked that Best considered suicide.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Best later appeared with fellow Star Wars alumni Dee Bradley Baker, James Arnold Taylor, and Daran Norris on the TV show Big Time Rush.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2008, he also wrote, directed, and produced the pilot for a television show called This Can't Be My Life.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In late May 2020, Lucasfilm announced that Best would star as Jedi Master Kelleran Beq in the game show Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge, which premiered in June 2020.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Best reprised the role of Beq in the third season of The Mandalorian, a live-action series set in the Star Wars universe.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite magazine</ref> His character rescued Grogu from Darth Sidious' Jedi Purge. Best received praise for his performance.

In addition to his acting roles, Best has worked as an adjunct professor at Stanford University.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His Stanford classes have touched on subjects such as art and Afrofuturism.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Best also holds the rank of Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Best has attended several conventions as part of Star Wars Celebration as a guest.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He attended Star Wars Celebration Japan in April 2025.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Note
1989	Lean on Me	Extra
1999	Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace	Jar Jar Binks (voice and motion capture)	citation	CitationClass=web }} A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.</ref>
2002	Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones	Jar Jar Binks (voice) and Achk Med-Beq	<ref name="btva" />
	Armitage: Dual Matrix	Mouse (voice)	English version
2004	Kangaroo Jack: G'Day U.S.A.!	Louis Booker (voice)	<ref name="btva" />
2005	Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith	Jar Jar Binks (voice)
2006	Open Window	Rufus
2009	Mother and Child	Julian
2010	The Pink House	Actor Judge
	2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams	Crow
2011	Poolboy: Drowning Out The Fury	Sidney Moncrief
	Some Guy Who Kills People	Mayor Maxwell
2012	FDR: American Badass!	Curtis
2013	DJ	Mouse (Armitage segments)
	W.M.D.	News Reporter

Television

Year	Title	Role	Note
2003	Alias	Seth	Episode: "A Free Agent"
2006	The Colbert Report	Jar Jar Binks (voice)	Episode: "George Lucas"
2007	Robot Chicken: Star Wars	Jar Jar Binks, AT-AT Driver (voice)	Television film
2008	This Can't Be My Life	Ahmed	Episode: "The Pink Pages"
	Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II	Jar Jar Binks, Stormtrooper (voice)	Television film Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production or Short Form
	5 Second Movies	Himself
2008–14	Star Wars: The Clone Wars	Jar Jar Binks, Lyonie (voice)	7 episodes<ref name="btva" />
2009	Cougar Town	Dwayne	Episode: "Mystery Man"
2009–12	Big Time Rush	Marketer, Rob	3 episodes
2010	Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III	Jar Jar Binks, Carl the Stormtrooper (voice)	Television film
2011	Law & Order: LA	Dell Gregory	Episode: "Runyon Canyon"
	Zeke and Luther	Sal Sackelson	Episode: "Bro'd Trip"
	In the Flow with Affion Crockett	Black Jock
2012	Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out	Jar Jar Binks (voice)	Television short
2020	Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge	Jedi Master Kelleran Beq	<ref name=":0" />
	The George Lucas Talk Show	Himself	Episode: "Best in Show"
2023	The Mandalorian	Kelleran Beq	Episode: "Chapter 20: The Foundling"<ref name=":0" />
2024	Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy	Darth Jar Jar Binks (voice)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="btva" />

Short films

Year	Title	Role
2002	Friendly Criminal	Himself
2003	The Stockholm Syndrome	Himself
	There's a Sucker Born Every Minute	Nathan
2005	Escorched	Richard Prentiss
2007	Charlie's Bitch Ass Hos	Makeafoolofme West
2008	This Can't Be My Life	Ahmed

Documentary

Year	Title	Role	Note
1999	From Star Wars to Star Wars: The Story of Industrial Magic	Himself
2001	The Beginning: Making Star Wars Episode 1	Himself
	R2-D2: Beneath the Dome	Himself	Uncredited
2005	Science of Star Wars	Himself
2009	Black to the Future	Himself
2010	The Life of Bob Marley	Bob Marley
	2001 Maniacs: Behind the Screams	Himself

Music

Year	Title	Songs
2010	2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams	"The South's Gonna Rise Again" "Rot in Hell" "Hey Hey Howdy Howdy Hey" "Fun, Games and Feastin'" "Building From the Ground Up"

Composer

Year	Title	Note
2008	This Can't Be My Life	Episode: The Pink Pages (Theme song)

Director

Year	Title	Note
2008	This Can't Be My Life	Short film
		Episode: The Pink Pages

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Note
1999	Star Wars: Yoda's Challenge Activity Center	Jar Jar Binks (voice)	<ref name="btva" />
	Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace		<ref name="btva" />
	Star Wars: The Gungan Frontier		<ref name="btva" />
2000	Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles		<ref name="btva" />
	Star Wars: Early Learning Activity Center		<ref name="btva" />
	Star Wars: Jar Jar's Journey Adventure Book		<ref name="btva" />
2001	Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds		<ref name="btva" />
	Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing		<ref name="btva" />
2005	Lego Star Wars: The Video Game		Uncredited
2007	Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga		Uncredited
2009	Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2	Cloak (voice)
2011	Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars	Jar Jar Binks (voice)	<ref name="btva" />
2015	Disney Infinity 3.0		<ref>Template:Cite video game</ref>
2020	Fallout 76: Wastelanders	Carver Timmerman, James Addison, Jide (voice)	DLC<ref>Template:Cite video game</ref>
	The Last of Us Part II	Additional voices
2025	South of Midnight	Performance and voice director	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Fortnite Battle Royale	Darth Jar Jar	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Producer

Year	Title	Note
2007	The DL Chronicles	Episodes: Wes & Robert (executive producer) Boo & Mark (co-executive producer)
2008	This Can't Be My Life	Episode: The Pink Pages (co-producer)

Writer

Year	Title	Note
2008	This Can't Be My Life	Short film
		Episode: The Pink Pages

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Note
1995	Stomp	Sarge	Winner of Obie Award
1997	The Tempest	Lead
2002	Uncle Tom's Cabin	Lead
	Jack	Sammy
2003	Vacuums	J. Buttersworth III

Discography

Song	Note
"The Jazzhole"	Co-wrote and co-produced
"And the Feeling Goes Around"
"The Beat is the Bomb"
"Secret"
"Falling Apart"
"Take Time"
"Mean What You Say"
"Sweet Child"
"I Wonder"
"Is It Worth"
"Dear James"
"It's the Jazz"	On the album Vitality of Expression by Jeff Peretz
"Forms of the Rhythm"
Celebrity EP	as DJ Starfaker

External links

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