Award winning costume designer Shawna Trpcic talks about creating a unique look for Ahmed Best as Kelleran Beq in The Mandalorian, using suggestions from Jon Favreau pointing to Jewish temples and the shawls worn by head rabbis.
Trpcic’s challenge was to create unique details without betraying the clarity of the austere Mandalorian group, including the character Kelleran Beq. Played by Ahmed Best, previously known for playing Jar-Jar Binks, Kelleran was first introduced in 2020’s game show “Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge” and the Jedi who saves Grogu (aka Baby Yoda) during the Order 66 attack. Series creator Jon Favreau pointed her to Jewish temples and the scrollwork on the shawls worn by head rabbis.
“That was my takeaway. What set him apart was different scrollwork,” she says. “I sketched some out for him. I looked at other Jedi to see what their different leather pieces were.”
Trpcic was further inspired by the actor’s own tattoos: “He had all this glorious art, and once he got into the story of it, I did my own research. We incorporated an Afro-futuristic version of that tattoo work into his Jedi robes, which completed his story of redemption from his own walk in life. I got to reinvent a Jedi robe.”
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