Biddy Blas could probably use a booster cushion on his speeder to see more clearly over its handlebars, but he hasn't needed any sort of booster to make a massive impression on the internet.
This squat, reptilian nuisance from Star Wars: Galactic Racer has overtaken social media algorithms with a ceaseless flood of fan-made skits, memes, and thirst traps. Blas and his shrill Huttese barks have acted almost as unexpected marketing for the game, seemingly having a greater reach and impact than the smattering of high review scores. And like a podracer barreling down the Mos Espa Raceway, it has all come at Richard Summers-Calvert, the voice behind the Crocin racer, incredibly quickly.
"I knew we had created something special," Summers-Calvert told GameSpot. "I knew we created something people would really enjoy and [Blas] was going to be really irritating. And I remember posting on my Instagram Stories [something vague] like, ‘I just had a really lovely session. Can’t wait for you all to see it.’ And that post popped up again recently, and I really did feel great that day going home. And I was like, ‘We’ve definitely done something cool.’ I had no idea it would be this successful and this positive."
Similarly struck by this success is Galactic Racer's music and narrative director, Nathaniel Daw, who was quick to recall the initial, eye-opening recording sessions with Summers-Calvert. According to Daw, the Star Wars-free early scripts--which were filled with all sorts of codenames meant to obfuscate what title voice actors were actually reading for--didn’t give Summers-Calvert much to go on other than this mystery character having a tiny stature that betrayed his large ego. And despite the opaqueness, the muscular, red-headed actor took a bold swing.
"About halfway through, he just lets out this incredible laugh," recalled Daw in an interview with GameSpot. "And that’s basically Biddy’s [current] laugh. And at that point, we sort of knew. It had the energy that is so infectious and that maniacal, constant sense of self-delusion that Biddy has. In his mind, he’s the best that’s ever been. So when we got Richard in the booth and we started hearing him put such gusto into those lines, we knew instantly we had the character right in there. It’s a very high-energy role. We asked a lot of Richard, but so much of that came from just Richard’s own optimism and enthusiasm. They were some of the most fun sessions we had, because they were always just big energy, big laughter."
Summers-Calvert says he didn’t have a backup voice planned, but his risky bet paid off, even if the immediate laughter from the crew was alarming.
"It was kind of a bold start," noted Summers-Calvert. "I just remember Nathaniel and the team laughing. But it was laughing for the right reasons.
Me, as an actor, I’m in there like, ‘Oh no, what have I done?’"
"Because, especially when you make a bold choice, it could go one of two ways,
Summers-Calvert continued. "Those choices can lead to the best performances. So when the reaction was this visceral one of positivity, then I guess the team was like, ‘This is the way to go.’"
The contrast of being such a boisterous presence trapped in such a small package is what makes Blas so immediately funny. He’s a jester of sorts, a role Summers-Calvert is familiar with. In addition to being an actor and filmmaker, Summers-Calvert also goes by the name Charles Crowley in the squared circle. Instead of donning spandex undies or jorts, typical of many professional wrestlers, Crowley wears thick eyeliner, an extravagant top, matching pants, and a top hat with massive, devilish horns poking out. He refers to himself as the "imp of professional wrestling" in a trailer on his YouTube channel, a description backed up by his tricksy style and over-the-top demeanor. Instead of wanting to be the strongest wrestler or the fastest, he said he wanted his wrestling superpower to be charisma.
This sort of character overlap isn’t lost on him, either. He explained how Blas’ charisma is what makes him invaluable and how that is such a joy to bring to life as an actor. But it’s not something Summers-Calvert was born with. Although he said he had a lot of energy as a kid, he also asserted he was an awkward teen who had trouble speaking to people.
However, the tragedy that struck him in his inelegant teenage years is what helped him find the capacity to ham it up for Blas. His mother died when he was only 16 years old, and in addition to being a mom, she was a stuntwoman, stand-up comic, and actor whose outlook on life and spirit remained an inspiration long after her untimely death.
"She was the person that had all this energy. So I think, during that process and dealing with that, I was like, ‘You know what? I want to embrace that more. That side of me is there. That side of her is there,’" Summers-Calvert recalled, pointing to his heart. "So that energy and getting it out there with pride is something that I would love to have be infectious for other people and embrace that. Yes, it can feel silly, but just do it, like Biddy does. I think that energy is just so good. I just had to rediscover it, for sure, and that took some time. But now I’m in a place where I’m not afraid to fail. I’m not afraid to look silly. And from that, you can get magic. And I feel like that is what we found with Biddy."
Summers-Calvert’s performance is evidence of this outlook, which has been backed up by his embrace of the post-launch memes. His Instagram and X feeds are filled with his joyous responses to various Blas jokes, and that's still probably only a mere sliver of what he’s actually been sent. He said he was the most surprised to see PlayStation’s official United Kingdom account jump in on the fun and explained how the Dune poster spoof adorned with eight clones of the obnoxious Crocin is his favorite among the memes. Daw added that the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia meme, with Blas’ head on Mac McDonald’s body, also tops his personal list.
At the center of many of these memes is what has gone on to become Biddy Blas' signature phrase: "scrib doon," which is Huttese for "write it down." It’s what Blas yells at players almost immediately upon starting the campaign and would sound innocuous if said in a real language, but Summers-Calvert’s bonkers delivery of the line--and overall mouthfeel of the phrase--made it an instant sensation online. Daw said he thinks he knows who came up with the specific phrase--it’s apparently someone at Fuse Games--but doesn’t want to single anyone out, as crafting the Huttese in Galactic Racer was an intensely collaborative process between Lucasfilm and Fuse. Still, Daw has one thing he’s willing to brag about: He was saying "scrib doon" before it was cool.
"Being one of the earliest people to have heard that performance, I think I was walking around saying ‘scrib doon’ long before it was a meme, and people would just look at me weirdly because they had no context," he chuckled.
Even with all the goofs, Summers-Calvert said he thinks Blas is more than a joke, and that the overconfident racer’s depth lies in his insecurities. Between the boasting and desperate fibs he spouts between races, players can sometimes hear him drop the veil just a bit, like when talks about his mother or to certain women. It’s these humanizing contrasts that, in Summers-Calvert’s eyes, help make Blas a "fleshed-out character that also leaves room for thought."
"People like to share those little clips of him dancing," Summers-Calvert said. "Yes, it’s hilarious. Yes, it is silly. But also they’ve played the game, they’ve seen how, in conversations, he gets awkward around women. When he is exposed, everyone is like, ‘Oh no! I want to throw him against the wall, but bless him.’ And then when he actually wins a race and he’s there dancing, it allows them to go on a greater journey if you know that insecurity.
It’s those little insecurities you see in his dialogue, for me, that make Biddy Blas."
It’s this attention to character details that Summers-Calvert said draws him to games. Even though he’s spent nearly 350 hours in the relatively story-free Palworld and around 150 hours grinding away in Monster Hunter Wilds, he tends to favor games like Dispatch, Baldur’s Gate III, and Mass Effect, all of which focus on complex characters and the worlds they inhabit.
To him, Galactic Racer also has these small cinematic details. The decision-making he loves in those aforementioned titles is represented on the track, as picking upgrades and perks has such huge consequences when the engines are whirring. Despite his apathy toward the racing genre, he’s put about 17 hours into Galactic Racer and said he isn’t planning to stop anytime soon. After all, he still needs to hit rank 25 in multiplayer to unlock Blas.
"All these games, including Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, are very cinematic and stylistic in their own way," said Summers-Calvert. "I’m a filmmaker as well, so that stuff really matters to me. And the gaming world now is just... the term is ‘Absolute Cinema’ but everyone is saying ‘Absolute Scrib Doon’ right now, so I am going to take that meme and use it here: Absolute Scrib Doon."
Even with Fuse’s deft and efficient worldbuilding and Summers-Calvert’s ability to make Blas more than a viral punchline, many are still likely going to just grab onto that virality and lead with it. Summers-Calvert is undoubtedly going to experience this quite a bit in real life, since his online buzz landed him an invite to MCM Comic-Con in London in late October. It’ll be his first convention in a post-Blas world, which is assuredly going to cause many attendees to shout one of a handful of Huttese catchphrases right at him. But he said he’s more than willing to play along and equipped with enough Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa and honey to save his throat from utter annihilation.
It would be understandable to fear this type of publicity while at the center of a meme-based whirlwind, though. A real-world convention risks beating a dead tauntaun and potentially hampering what may very well be the most uniformly loved part of Star Wars in decades. However, Summers-Calvert said he views the upcoming convention as a chance to spread positivity--to celebrate the hard work that got him to this point of being invited to a convention to sign autographs only a few weeks after the game’s launch.
"I understand why people would think I’d be [potentially annoyed], but it’s just all so positive," the Blas actor said. "That’s just amazing. Let’s sit here and enjoy it. It’s such a satisfying thing to shout. [laughs] It’s someone saying their name and ‘write it down.’ Who would have thought it? So enjoy it, ride it, and if people want to shout it, I’ve done my job well. And therefore, any time I hear it, I’m proud of what I’ve helped create."