Toxicity in Star Wars fandom almost led Ahmed Best to suicide but thankfully he is back and ready to take on the role as Jedi Knight-turned-host Kelleran Beq in the new game show Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge which starts June 3rd. Clayton Sandell caught up with Best to talk about the new show and how he faced his demons.
Every hero’s journey has the part where the main character returns home, transformed after facing down monsters and assorted evil.
For actor Ahmed Best, his triumphant return to “Star Wars” after confronting his own trials and tribulations comes in the form of the first-ever game show set in that galaxy far, far away.
“Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge” debuts Wednesday with two episodes on StarWarsKids.com and the “Star Wars” YouTube channel. In every episode, three teams of young “padawans” are put through a series of trials designed to test strength, knowledge and bravery on the path to becoming a lightsaber-wielding Jedi Knight.
Best plays Jedi Knight-turned-host Kelleran Beq, along with his trusty droids AD-3 and LX-R5.
“Kelleran is the ultimate temple master,” Best says. “He can appear to be kind of funny, kind of goofy. He gets ribbed a lot by AD-3, the droid. But at the end of the day, what Kelleran Beq is trying to do is make you the best Jedi that you can be.”
The series, 10 episodes in all, was originally slated for the Disney+ subscription streaming service, but Lucasfilm says this way, more kids will be able to watch it for free.
Creators found inspiration in Nickelodeon shows of the 1990s including “Double Dare” and “Legends of the Hidden Temple.” But British game shows like “The Crystal Maze,” “Raven,” and “Nightmare” were a huge influence that series co-creator Scott Bromley felt were perfectly tailored to “Star Wars.”
“They made the kids take on roles and personas that weren’t their own, and the kids really fell into this adventure,” says Bromley. “Star Wars exists in its own timeline, and wanting to honor that, we couldn’t have a kid become a Jedi but also be from Temecula and really into soccer.”
The game show marks a return to “Star Wars” for Best, who found himself in a very dark place after providing the voice and physical movements for the digital character Jar Jar Binks in the prequel films.
After “Episode I: The Phantom Menace” was released in 1999, Jar Jar was widely criticized for being a bumbling mashup of racist stereotypes. The Wall Street Journal described the character as a “Rastafarian Stepin Fetchit.”
Best, who was in his mid-20’s when “The Phantom Menace” was released, poured his heart and soul into playing Jar Jar. But the toxic reactions and vitriol aimed at the character eventually drove him to consider suicide.
“I felt alone,” Best says. “And anytime you feel alone in a situation that’s overwhelming I think you’re going to go into some kind of a state that moves into the unhealthy.”
At one point, Best found himself standing on the edge of the Brooklyn Bridge.
“As a black man from New York City, from the Bronx, there’s this facade that I can’t be hurt,” said Best. “In actuality, I was really just crumbling inside.”
Best decided not to jump that night, and recalled the moment years later when he returned to the same spot with his son.
“I looked at my son and I realized that, ‘I almost didn’t have you.’ And he’s the best thing that ever happened to me in my life,” Best tells ABC News.
In 2018 Best posted a picture to Instagram and Twitter next to his son on the Brooklyn Bridge, revealing for the first time that he’d once considered taking his own life. He says it was like finally declaring victory over the haters.
Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge debuts June 3rd with two episodes on StarWarsKids.com and the Star Wars YouTube channel.
