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Ahmed Best

Ahmed Best is an American actor, voice performer and musician whose work brings together movement, character and rhythm. Born in New York City on August 19, 1973, he spent much of his childhood in the Soundview section of the Bronx before his family moved to Maplewood, New Jersey. After graduating from Columbia High School in 1991, he studied percussion at the Manhattan School of Music. Music was an early foundation. Best joined the acid jazz group Jazzhole in 1994, performing with the group for two years while co-writing and co-producing three albums. That musical and physical background proved central to the screen role that would define a major part of his career. After casting director Robin Gurland saw his flexible, athletic movement in Stomp, Best was cast as Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. His work on The Phantom Menace combined performance, technology and voice acting. Best wore a full-body suit during principal photography, with his choreographed movements providing reference points for the digital artists at Industrial Light & Magic. George Lucas also asked him to voice the character. Best later returned as Jar Jar in the remaining prequel films, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Robot Chicken specials and other appearances. He also played the Outlander Club patron Achk Med-Beq in Attack of the Clones. The hostility directed at Jar Jar often reached Best personally, making the role’s later reappraisal especially meaningful. At Star Wars Celebration Chicago in 2019, he received a warm response during events marking the twentieth anniversary of The Phantom Menace. Best subsequently returned to the galaxy in a very different register as Jedi Master Kelleran Beq, first in Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge and later in the third season of The Mandalorian, where Beq rescues Grogu during the Jedi Purge. He also voiced Darth Jar Jar, a Sith variation on the character, in Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy. Across stage, music, voice acting and screen performance, Best’s career shows how much expressive range can begin with timing, movement and sound.