Ahmed Best has recently revealed some interesting information about the controversial ‘Star Wars’ prequels, specifically about the poster character for everything wrong with George Lucas’s return to the galaxy far, far away, Jar Jar Binks. Last year during an AMA session on Reddit, Best revealed that the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, had wanted to play the silly Gungan originally, and now Best has come out with more details regarding the singer’s request to play the character.
“Me, Natalie Portman, and George’s kids—we were at Wembley arena at Michael Jackson’s concert. We were taken backstage and we met Michael. There was Michael and Lisa Marie [Presley]. George introduced me as “Jar Jar” and I was like, That’s kind of weird. Michael was like, “Oh. OK.” I thought, What is going on? After Michael had driven off, we all go back up to a big afterparty. I’m having a drink with George and I said, “Why did you introduce me as Jar Jar?” He said, “Well, Michael wanted to do the part but he wanted to do it in prosthetics and makeup like Thriller.“….George wanted to do it in CGI. My guess is ultimately Michael Jackson would have been bigger than the movie, and I don’t think he wanted that.”
While I agree that Jackson probably would have stolen the show, and that it would have felt more like ‘Captain EO’ than ‘Star Wars,’ I’m not sure it would have been all that much worse than the films we actually got. Although I will say, despite the issues with Jar Jar, he was at least the first fully CGI character on the big screen, paving the way for many others such as Gollum from ‘Lord of the Rings,’ and if Jackson had played the role, it would have all been practical.
What are your thoughts on the idea of Michael Jackson playing Jar Jar Binks? Would it really have made that much of a difference? Let us know your opinion in the comments below!
Source: Vice
