Everybody loves a comeback story, and this one is particularly well deserved. Episode 4 of the third season of The Mandalorian welcomed back a famous figure – if not a famous face – from the past. This time, it wasn’t Luke Skywalker to the rescue, but the character of Kelleran Beq, played by Ahmed Best, who made his first appearance in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.
Ahmed Best Deserves This Second Chance at ‘Star Wars’
Taking to Instagram, Best expressed his joy and pleasure at returning to a galaxy far, far away following his years of turmoil and personal strife caused by a more toxic element of the fanbase.
Gratitude! Good to be back. There is so much to say and share. It’s going to take a couple of days. But, for now, I’ll just say thank you to all that have held me up and made me better.
This isn’t the first time Best has taken on the role of Kelleran Beq. He has previously appeared as the character in Star Wars: Jedi Challenge, a children’s game show in which Beq oversaw young contestants as the sought to overcome an obstacle course themed to be a Jedi training course. It was a pleasure to see Best return to the franchise, and we can only hope we see more of him in the future.
Best provided the voice and motion capture for the highly divisive character of Jar-Jar Binks, the Gungan from the planet of Naboo who befriends Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn, in George Lucas’ prequel trilogy. However, intense dislike of the character resulted in fierce criticism of the actor, which was entirely undeserved, leading to the actor considering taking his own life, such were the depths of despair he fell into following the online abuse he received. He makes a glorious return to the franchise in a flashback sequence, rescuing Grogu from Order 66 in which the Jedi were to be purged following orders by Emperor Palpatine, showing fighting skills that are worthy of the nickname “Sabered Hand”, which he was given during the course of the game show Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge. The flashback ends when Beq and Grogu escape the clone troopers onto a Naboo starship, before it ends. Whether we see more of Beq and Grogu remains to be seen.
He joins Andy Serkis, who had a memorable arc on the Disney+ series Andor, as a motion capture actor to take on another role within the universe showing their own face after bringing another to life – in Serkis’ case, the character of Supreme Leader Snoke from the sequel trilogy.
The Mandalorian Season 3 is now streaming on Disney+. Check out Best’s comments below:
