Ahmed Best facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ahmed Best
Best during his first convention appearance at the Big Apple Convention 2010
Born	(1973-08-19) August 19, 1973 (age 51) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	Manhattan School of Music
Occupation	Actor musician
Years active	1989–present
Spouse(s)	Raquel Horsford

Ahmed Best (born August 19, 1973) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is best known for bringing the character Jar Jar Binks to life in the famous Star Wars movies. He did this by providing Jar Jar's voice and using a special technique called motion capture, which records an actor's movements to create computer-generated characters.

Ahmed Best also worked with director George Lucas on three Star Wars films and seven episodes of the cartoon show, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He even won an Annie Award for his voice acting as Jar Jar Binks in Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II.

Early Life

Ahmed Best was born in New York City on August 19, 1973. He grew up mostly in the Soundview area of the Bronx. In 1984, his family moved to Maplewood, New Jersey. He went to Columbia High School and finished in 1991. After high school, he studied percussion, which is playing drums and other instruments, at the Manhattan School of Music.

His older sister, Dunia Best Sinnreich, is also a musician. She was the lead singer for several bands.

Acting and Music Career

In 1994, Ahmed Best joined an acid jazz music group called the Jazzhole. He helped the group for two years. He co-wrote and co-produced three albums for them. In 1995, he also helped create an album called Escape by Bill Evans.

Later in 1995, he joined the cast of Stomp. Stomp is a show where performers use everyday objects to make music and rhythms. He traveled with Stomp all over the United States and Europe.

In 1997, a casting director noticed Ahmed's energetic movements in Stomp. This led to him being chosen to play Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars prequel movies (1999–2005). He played Jar Jar again in special Star Wars episodes of Robot Chicken and in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He also appeared as Jar Jar on Stephen Colbert's show, The Colbert Report.

Ahmed Best shared that he put a lot of his own personality into Jar Jar Binks. So, when some people didn't like the character, it sometimes made him feel sad. He later appeared on the TV show Big Time Rush with other Star Wars actors.

In 2008, Ahmed Best also wrote, directed, and produced a pilot episode for a TV show called This Can't Be My Life.

In May 2020, Lucasfilm announced that Ahmed Best would star as Jedi Master Kelleran Beq in a game show called Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge. The show's release was delayed a bit due to important events happening in the world. He later played the role of Kelleran Beq again in the third season of The Mandalorian, which is a live-action Star Wars series.

Besides acting, Ahmed Best has also taught classes at Stanford University. His classes have explored topics like art and Afrofuturism, which is a way of looking at the future through the eyes of African culture.

Ahmed Best is also very skilled in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, holding the rank of Black Belt.

Filmography

Film

Television

Short films

Documentary

Video games

Theatre

See Also

In Spanish: Ahmed Best para niños