20 Things You Didn't Know About Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

3. The Jar Jar Binks Backlash Caused Actor Ahmed Best To Consider Suicide

There is nothing in the Star Wars prequels - and especially The Phantom Menace - more controversial, if not widely-loathed than the presence of squeaky-voiced Gungan Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best), a CGI abomination of a racial caricature included solely to make the series more appealing to younger children.

The character felt like a wildly unnecessary addition and disrupted the tone of just about every scene he appeared in, such that fans created their own sans-Jar Jar cuts of the film, and even created edits which implied his death.

Hell, J.J. Abrams admitted that he considered including Jar Jar's bones as an Easter egg in The Force Awakens, showing just how far the hatred went.

Yet there's a sad component to all this ire, namely the impact it had on Jar Jar's actor, Ahmed Best, who above all else was simply playing the part created and directed by George Lucas.

Earlier this year, Best confessed that he considered suicide following the reaction to the character, but managed not to for the sake of his young son.

As if you needed a reminder of just how toxic portions of the Star Wars fanbase can be, here it is. Jar Jar may be a terrible character, but the responsibility should rest almost entirely with Lucas himself.