Ahmed Best Talks About Bringing His Jedi Character to Life in THE MANDALORIAN

Seeing Ahmed Best unexpectedly show up in The Mandalorian Season 3 episode “The Foundling” as a Jedi and heroically save Grogu from being killed during the execution of Order 66 at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, was so freakin’ cool! That was one of the highlights from The Mandalorian Season 3 and during a recent interview with StarWars.com, the actor talked about bringing his character, Kelleran Beq, to life.

It’s explained that “after months of conversation, reflection, and planning, Ahmed Best was ready to take his first steps back into the larger world of Star Wars.” Everything clicked into place with Best when he first put on his Jedi robes. He explained:

“As soon as I put the robes on for my first costume test, and I walked on to get approval from Jon and Dave, and they handed me a lightsaber, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m in this,’ and boom, Kelleran Beq came alive.”

Best was asked to join the series by Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Rick Famuyiwa, but deciding to jump back into the Star Wars universe wasn’t a decision he was going to make without thinking about it, especially after the bullying and pain he endured from playing Jar Jar Binks in the prequel trilogy. It took some consideration before the actor agreed to jump on board. He talked about that saying:

“Honestly, I had to think about it. I’ve been in the Star Wars world for such a long time and my story is such a rollercoaster ride of emotions. So coming back to Star Wars wasn’t an easy decision for me. It wasn’t something I could have immediately said yes to. I did have to marinate over it for a bit. I mean, I was excited. I don’t think people really understand how much I care about Star Wars. Like, I really care. I really, really care about the storytelling, about the mythology, about the fans. I really want Star Wars to deliver, and if I become an obstacle to that, then I shouldn’t be in it. I don’t want to be bigger than the story. I don’t want to be bigger than the mythology. I want to contribute, I want to add to it. So it took me a minute.”

Thanks to the support from the show’s creators he was convinced to do it. He said: “I was still nervous, but it was really Favreau and Filoni, and being with them, that made me want to come back.”

He went on to talk about the creation of the character, Kelleran Beq, who was originally introduced in the 2020 Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge game show. Best took Kelleran’s last name from his Star Wars: Attack of the Clones cameo character, pilot Achk Med-Beq. On the show, Best is both host and teacher to the competing Padawan teams and he went on to say:

“I went in deep with Kelleran Beq. It’s really special to me. Kelleran Beq was a character in name that I created, I came up with, was really encouraged by the Jedi Temple Challenge team and the StarWars.com team. Everyone just was so graceful in embracing my crazy ideas and bringing it forward, and to see that then migrate over to The Mandalorian is really super special.”

Best explained that he collaborated closely with series costume designer Shawna Trpcic on the look of his Jedi character including his robes and tunic. He also incorporated elements of his own tribal tattoos, as well as Afrofuturism symbols into his outfit’s gold detailing. Best also created his own outlook on the Force, and how he experiences it saying:

“To me, the Force is not just this thing that Jedi tap into when they want to throw something heavy. The Force is this thing that is constantly moving. You’re always interacting with it. I see it as like, if you’re under water and you’re moving through water, that’s what it feels like moving with the Force. So trusting the Force means trusting that these ebbs and flows of this feeling, you can move with.

“In every single situation of this, I’m really trying to tune into this bigger feeling of the Force. When I’m getting attacked by clone troopers, I feel them coming. The waves of the Force are moving me before they even show up. So I know what’s about to happen because I feel the wave, and then I can react to the wave. Same thing on the speeder. I can feel the ship coming, so then I can react to it. I see him really having a lot of trust in this ability to surf the Force.”

Best went on to discuss how his character is a celebration of teaching, saying: “I see Kelleran as this journeyman Jedi who becomes a professor, who wants to be a teacher. Not a reluctant teacher, not someone who’s thrown into teaching. Who wants to influence, who wants to show Padawans how to become a greater version of themselves.”

Best even developed his own fighting style and technique for Kelleran! Studying martial arts for over 40 years definitely came in handy for this and he was very much inspired by Bruce Lee and “the style of the unknown.” This allows his character “fall into all of these situations and adapt.” Then, of course, there was the lightsaber!

“The lightsaber of it all was really exciting for me. I’ve always, always, always wanted to do a lightsaber fight. And even in this one, it’s just like, one tenth of one percent of what I can do. But I was like, ‘Let me get it out there!’ Martial arts and motorcycles, I’m like, ‘I know this. This is who I am.’”

He then talked about the reception that he hoped his Jedi character would be met with by fans saying:

“I really care about how Kelleran Beq will be received. I know this might not be cool to say, but I want everyone who watches Star Wars to look at Kelleran Beq and go, ‘I believe that guy. I want to follow that guy. Where does he go? What happens next?’ I think all the best stories are stories that leave you wondering what happens next. I think that’s why Star Wars has survived as long as it has, because all of these characters are characters who have lives.”

From the fan reaction that I’ve been seeing, this is exactly the reception that the character is getting, which is so awesome to see!