INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Michael Jackson Wanted To Play Jar Jar Binks In ‘Star Wars’

By Anne Sewell
Published on: 06:53 PST, Jul 27, 2015

Some ridicule the character Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars movies, but others absolutely love him. In fact, Michael Jackson wanted to play the part of the much-aligned character, dressed up in prosthetics.

Wall Street Journal reportedly once called Jar Jar Binks a “Rastafarian Stepin Fetchit on platform hoofs, crossed annoyingly with Butterfly McQueen.” According to Moviepilot, however, that sort of endearing, seven-foot-tall goofball character, played by actor Ahmed Best, was almost played by the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson.

So instead of a CGI Jar Jar Binks, we could have had a seven-foot-tall Michael Jackson, dressed up in prosthetics — a frightening thought, indeed.

Ahmed Best was interviewed by Vice, and he was the one to reveal that Jackson wanted the unusual role in the 1999 film, Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace. He said that George Lucas told him.

“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?’ “

According to Press Examiner, he said that after Michael Jackson had driven off, they all went back for a big after-party.

“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 make-up 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.”

It turns out Michael was a very keen Star Wars fan, and among his personal possessions at the Neverland ranch he had life-sized figures of C3PO, Darth Vader, and Boba Fett.

Michael Jackson may have been the King of Pop, but it seems his much-wanted acting career never really happened. He did play the Scarecrow in a 1978 pop adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, called simply The Wiz, alongside Diana Ross as Dorothy.

There was also the very brief appearance made by Jackson as Agent M in Men in Black II, and he also did a few voice roles in various cartoons.

However, much as Michael Jackson would have loved it, his Star Wars career just never took off. It is hard, and rather funny, to imagine Michael strutting around saying things like “Meesa Jar Jar Binks.” In the meantime, have a look at the worst of Jar Jar Binks in the video below.

On the subject of Michael Jackson, the Inquisitr reported that his father, Joe Jackson, has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke in Brazil.

[Image: Michael Jackson CC BY-SA 3.0 Georges Biard / Jar Jar Binks]

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