Simon Pegg Regrets Roasting Jar Jar Binks

Long before he was battling evil god-like computer programs with the star of Risky Business, Simon Pegg starred alongside Jessica Hynes in the British sitcom Spaced. The show was so beloved, over a thousand fans agreed to act like zombies in Shaun of the Dead for absolutely no pay.

One of the most memorable aspects of Spaced was Pegg’s character Tim’s love of Star Wars. But in the second season, his disappointment in the relatively recently-released Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace took him to some dark places, such as burning all of his Star Wars merch on a funeral pyre.

And verbally abusing a small child who simply wanted to purchase a Jar Jar Binks toy.

But these days, Pegg feels as though he may have gone a little too far in his prequel-bashing.

During a recent video interview with Variety, Pegg discussed Spaced’s Star Wars hostility, specifically the line “Jar Jar Binks makes the Ewoks look like fucking Shaft.” The Hot Fuzz star noted that much of that anger did stem from his own experience with George Lucas’ divisive return to the franchise. “I apologize to all of the millennials out there who love these films, but I was so disappointed,” Pegg said, revealing that a faulty projection made his first viewing of the film even worse. “It said ‘Wars Star.’ That first ‘blam,’ after 16 years was completely ruined.”

Pegg was so shocked that the movie was bad, he even approached some complete strangers outside of the theater to gauge their reaction. “I said to these guys who I’d never met, I said, ‘Was that shit?’ And they went, ‘Yeah I think it was.’”

“So when we made the second season of Spaced, I put all of my disappointment and disillusionment into my character Tim,” Pegg itted, adding, “In a way, I was making fun of myself, as an adult, getting so upset about something as ephemeral as a movie.”

But Pegg’s opinion about Star Wars rage has shifted slightly in today’s age of online toxic fandom. “Now whenever I see people getting upset about what is essentially children’s entertainment, it’s like, ‘Grow the fuck up,’” Pegg stated. “I slightly regret the Jar Jar hate as well — because there was a person on the end of all that.” 

Pegg is seemingly referring to the fact that Ahmed Best, the performer behind Jar Jar Binks, has subsequently revealed that the backlash against his character took a significant toll on his mental health. 

Although Pegg did concede that Jar Jar jokes are “still kind of funny,” he’s likely more sympathetic to actors who play goofy Star Wars aliens with ridiculous names, now that he has “Unkar Plutt” on his résumé.