Ray Park
Ray Park | |
|---|---|
 Park in June 2011 | |
| Born | Raymond Park 23 August 1974 |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, martial artist, author |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Website | raypark |
Raymond Park (born 23 August 1974) is a Scottish actor, author and martial artist. He is best known for playing Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and Solo: A Star Wars Story,[1] Toad in X-Men, Snake-Eyes in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra[2][3] and G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and Edgar on Heroes.[4]
Early life
Park was born in Glasgow, Scotland. At the age of seven, he moved with his family to London, England.[5]
Park was introduced to martial arts by his father, who was a fan of Bruce Lee, and began training in the traditional Chinese Northern Shaolin Kung Fu when he was seven years old. He added wushu to his hobbies by age 14. When he was 16, Park won Great Britain's Martial Arts National Championship for his class[citation needed] and then went to Malaysia to try to improve his skills. He went on to compete in martial arts tournaments around the world and won awards before turning his attention to acting in the late 1990s.[6][unreliable source?]
Career
Park began working in films as a stunt double for the film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, doing the stunts for both Robin Shou and James Remar. Park also did some cameos as monsters, including Baraka. All of these were non-speaking roles.[7]
In 1999, Park appeared in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, as the Sith Lord Darth Maul. While the character only had three lines, Park's voice was dubbed over with that of actor Peter Serafinowicz. From his work on Star Wars, Park was cast in a cameo role in Fanboys as a Skywalker Ranch security guard who says, "Time for you to get mauled, boy," as he pulls out two nightsticks.
In addition to this acting work, he has also been Christopher Walken's fight stunt double for the film Sleepy Hollow. Park appeared in the scene where Walken's character, the Headless Horseman, murders the Killian family and Brom Bones, among others.[8]
Park had his first real speaking part in X-Men as Toad.
In December 2007, Park was confirmed for the role of Snake-Eyes in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and G.I. Joe: Retaliation involving a variation of the international G.I. Joe force who fought the minions of Cobra in the comics.
He worked with comic book creator-turned-filmmaker Kevin VanHook in the film Slayer, starring in the dual roles of acrobatic twin vampires. This film also saw him appearing again with Sleepy Hollow co-star Casper Van Dien.
ComiCon 2007 saw the premiere of the teaser trailer for Descendants, another comic book adaptation based on an independent comic by writer Joey Andrade.[9]
Park appeared as Edgar in the fourth season of the television series Heroes.[episode needed]
Park was also included in the motion capture team of the 2008 James Bond video game adaptation of Quantum of Solace.
In the comic book-styled film Hellbinders, he plays a soulless mercenary who, along with an elite assassin (Johnny Yong Bosch) and the last remaining member of the long dead Knights Templar, Esteban Cueto, must overcome their innate mistrust of each other and join forces to defeat Legion before it opens the gates of hell itself and overruns the entire world. Park narrated on 26 February 2010 the introduction of The FireBreather, a car from Classic Design Concepts in Detroit Autorama 2010, which appears in Park's supernatural thriller Jinn.[10]
In 2011, Park guest starred in the TV series Nikita as the London Guardian, Brendan. He reprised his role as Maul in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), with Sam Witwer providing the voice.[11]
In 2019 during Star Wars Celebration, Dave Filoni revealed that Park reprised his role as Maul for the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars through mo-cap performance.[12]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Mortal Kombat: Annihilation | Raptor #3 / Tarkatan (Baraka) #2 | Also stunt double for Robin Shou and James Remar |
| 1999 | Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace | Darth Maul | Voiced by Peter Serafinowicz; Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (shared with Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor) Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Villain |
| Sleepy Hollow | Headless Horseman | Apart from Christopher Walken scenes | |
| 2000 | X-Men | Mortimer Toynbee / Toad | |
| 2002 | Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever | A.J. Ross | |
| 2005 | Potheads: The Movie | Mr. D | |
| 2006 | Slayer | Acrobatic Vampire Twins | |
| 2007 | What We Do Is Secret | Brendan Mullen | |
| 2009 | Fanboys | THX Security Guard #2 | |
| G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra | Snake Eyes | ||
| Hellbinders | Max Lindermann | ||
| 2010 | The King of Fighters | Rugal Bernstein | |
| 2013 | G.I. Joe: Retaliation | Snake Eyes | |
| 2014 | Jinn | Gabriel | |
| 2018 | Accident Man | Mac | |
| Solo: A Star Wars Story | Maul | Cameo; Voiced by Sam Witwer | |
| TBA | R.A.M. | Damien Maxwell | Pre-production |
| Future Fighters | Henry "Hank" Liddell | Pre-production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | The Legend of Bruce Lee | Chuck Norris | 4 episodes |
| 2009 | Heroes | Edgar | |
| Spartacus: Motion Comic | Arkadios / Narrator | Voice | |
| 2011 | Nikita | London Guardian, Brendan | Episode: "Into the Dark" |
| Supah Ninjas | Harry | Episode: "Kickbutt" | |
| 2020 | Star Wars: The Clone Wars | Darth Maul | Episode: "The Phantom Apprentice"; Motion Capture; Voiced by Sam Witwer |
References
- ^ Wetmore, Jr., Kevin J. (10 August 2017). The Empire Triumphant: Race, Religion and Rebellion in the Star Wars Films. McFarland & Company. p. 127. ISBN 9781476611716.
- ^ "GI JOE – YO JOE, The Snake Has Returned". Kung Fu Magazine. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
- ^ "Interview: Ray Park on the Set of G.I. Joe". IESB. Archived from the original on 1 October 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
- ^ "Ray Park: Unmasked on HEROES". Kung Fu Magazine. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
- ^ "Biography". Official Ray Park Website. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
- ^ The Ray Park Picture Pages. Superior Pics. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
- ^ "Ray Park and Martial Arts: Part 1". Kung Fu Magazine. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
- ^ "Ray Park and Martial Arts: Part 2". Kung Fu Magazine. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
- ^ Butler, Blair (26 July 2007). "g4tv.com-video17177: 'The Descendants'". G4TV.
- ^ "Ray Park to Breathe Fire in Jinn; Meet Him This Friday in Michigan". Dread Central.
- ^ Simpson, George (24 May 2018). "Solo 2: How two MAJOR Star Wars villains are set up for the inevitable sequel". Daily Express. Express Newspapers. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
- ^ Schedeen, Jesse (14 April 2019). "Star Wars: Clone Wars' Final Season Features Return of Darth Maul and Mandalore". IGN. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
External links
- Official website
- Ray Park at IMDb
- Ray Park at the TCM Movie Database
- Ray Park at AllMovie
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- Use British English from January 2011
- 1974 births
- Male actors from Glasgow
- Male actors from London
- British wushu practitioners
- Living people
- People from Govan
- British stunt performers
- Scottish male film actors
- Scottish stunt performers
- 20th-century British male actors
- 21st-century British male actors
- Masked actors