While various actors from Ewan McGregor to Natalie Portman have talked about their work on the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy in recent times, Liam Neeson hasn’t discussed it much.
The actor who played Qui-Gon Jinn in “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” recently jumped to the defense of the 1999 film, telling EW he’s “very proud of the film, I got to be a Jedi, got to play with those wonderful lightsabers and stuff, it was terrific. I liked the movie.”
Neeson also spoke about Ahmed Best, the actor who played Jar Jar Binks and whom received such hate mail in the years since it damaged his career and sent him spiralling down a possible suicidal path before turning his life around:
“It really hurt his career, and I have to say when I was making that film… he was probably one of the funniest guys and talented guys I had ever worked with. I remember calling my old ex-agent at ICM and said, ‘I think I just worked with the new Eddie Murphy.’ I still believe that. Truly, he had all of us in stitches – including George Lucas.”
Neeson has reprised the role of Qui-Gon in animated form over the years. No word if he’ll do so again for a cameo (be it voice or on screen) in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series for the Disney+ service.
