Actor Ben Schwartz Plays Racer Droid TAY-0 in 'The Bad Batch' Episode 4
Image Source: CultureSlate
Droids with their own special personality have been a staple of Star Wars since the very beginning. R2-D2 may be the Swiss army knife of the galaxy far, far away, but his stubbornness can also be a bit annoying. Just ask C-3PO. K-2SO has never been shy to let everybody know his opinion on certain characters or situations, and Maarva's droid B2EMO in Andor behaved more like a family dog than something constructed to salvage scrap. Despite their usefulness and often legendary attachment to their owners, droids were often treated just like tools that were applied as long as they were useful and then just thrown away.
The most recent addition to the droids roster with an "interesting" personality is TAY-0. He made his first (and also probably last) appearance in the fourth episode of Season 2 of The Bad Batch, "Faster." As a racer droid, owned by the Transdoshan information broker Ciddarin Scaleback, he took part in so-called Riot Races, a sport in many ways similar to the more popular podracing and seemingly favored non-human racers due to the necessity of extremely quick reflexes.
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Not only was TAY-0 arrogant and believed himself to be the best racer of the bunch, despite contrary evidence, he also showed a distinct prejudice against humans, whom he believed to be lesser beings:
"You are doing it wrong, human. Calculations won't help you. It is all about strategy and skill, of which you have zero."
Image Source: Disney+
His sharp words did not help him in the end. After having been rebuilt after a race crash, he met his final fate when he was overrun and crushed by another speeder. Even his impending doom did not change his behavior as he uttered his last words, "I regret nothing."
TAY-0 was voiced by Ben Schwartz, with whom Lucasfilm continues a tradition of employing voice actors coming from live-action projects, like Lars Mikkelsen (Thrawn) or more recently, Hector Elizondo (Romar Adell in the season's second episode “Ruins of War”).
Schwartz is probably best known for his recurring role of Jean-Ralphio Saperstein in Parks and Recreation and for playing the not-so-competent social media director F. Tony Scarapiducci in Netflix's Space Force. However, he is not a stranger to voice-acting or Star Wars. His resume includes roles in Bob's Burger, Robot Chicken, BoJack Horseman, and The Simpsons. He also voiced the speedy hedgehog in both Sonic live-action movies. Schwartz played an uncredited First Order stormtrooper in The Force Awakens and worked as a consultant for creating the voice of BB-8 together with Bill Hader.
While TAY-0 will probably never appear again, there is a good chance that Schwartz might return to the Star Wars galaxy when Lucasfilm needs someone to voice a maybe annoying but nonetheless funny character.
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Source(s): Dork Side of the Force, Ashley & Company
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