Ahmed Best

Ahmed Best (born August 19, 1973) is an American actor. He gained recognition in 1999 for providing motion capture and voice of the character of Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars franchise. He also created, wrote, directed, and produced his own TV show, which he titled This Can't Be My Life.

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

Ahmed Best was born on August 19, 1973, in New York City. He lived the majority of his formative years in the Soundview section of the Bronx. He moved to Maplewood, New Jersey, in 1984. He attended Columbia High School and graduated from there in 1991. He then studied percussion at the Manhattan School of Music.

He 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.

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.

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 on the Star Wars themed episode of Robot Chicken (as well as its sequel), Star Wars: The Clone Wars and on an episode of Stephen Colbert's The Colbert Report. Best said he put a lot of himself into the character, so when Jar Jar drew hostility from moviegoers, it sometimes extended toward the actor or he otherwise interpreted it personally. His Jar Jar Binks character was so disliked that Best considered suicide. Best later appeared with fellow Star Wars alumni Dee Bradley Baker, James Arnold Taylor, and Daran Norris on the TV show Big Time Rush.