Ray Park facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ray Park
Park speaking at Star Wars Weekends 2011 at Walt Disney World
Born	Raymond Park (1974-08-23) 23 August 1974 (age 50) Glasgow, Scotland
Occupation	Actor, martial artist, stuntman
Years active	1997–present
Spouse(s)	Lisa Park
Children	2

Raymond Park, born on August 23, 1974, is an actor, martial artist, and stuntman from Scotland. He is famous for playing characters who use amazing physical skills. You might know him best as Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and Solo: A Star Wars Story. He also used motion capture to play Maul in the last season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Ray Park also played Toad in the X-Men movie. He was Snake Eyes in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and G.I. Joe: Retaliation. On TV, he played Edgar in the show Heroes.

Early Life and Martial Arts

Ray Park was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on August 23, 1974. When he was seven years old, his family moved to London, England.

His father, who admired Bruce Lee, introduced him to martial arts. Ray started training at age seven. He first learned Hapkido for a year. Then he studied traditional Shaolin Kung Fu, like Nam Pai Chuan. He also learned modern wushu.

When he was 15, Park traveled to Malaysia to improve his martial arts skills. From 1991 to 1996, he was part of the British national wushu team. He competed in martial arts contests around the world, including the World Wushu Championships. Later, in the late 1990s, he decided to focus on acting.

Ray Park's Acting Career

Ray Park started his film career as a stunt double. He worked on the movie Mortal Kombat Annihilation. He performed stunts for actors Robin Shou and James Remar. He also had small roles as monsters in the film. These early roles did not have any speaking lines.

Becoming Darth Maul

In 1999, Park appeared in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. He played the Sith Lord Darth Maul. Even though the character only had three lines, another actor, Peter Serafinowicz, provided Maul's voice. Ray Park's amazing physical performance made Darth Maul a very memorable villain.

Because of his work on Star Wars, Park got a small role in the movie Fanboys. He played a security guard who makes a funny Star Wars reference.

Other Stunt and Acting Roles

Ray Park also worked as a fight stunt double for Christopher Walken. This was for the movie Sleepy Hollow. Park was in the scene where the Headless Horseman attacks several people.

Park with Vincent Pastore at the 2013 Wizard World New York Experience

Park had his first role with speaking lines in the movie X-Men. He played the character Toad.

In 2007, it was announced that Park would play Snake Eyes. This was for the movies G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Snake Eyes is a silent ninja commando from the G.I. Joe team.

He also worked with filmmaker Kevin VanHook on the movie Slayer. In this film, he played two acrobatic twin vampires. He even worked again with Casper Van Dien from Sleepy Hollow.

Park appeared as Edgar in the fourth season of the TV show Heroes. He was also part of the motion capture team for the 2008 James Bond video game Quantum of Solace.

In 2011, Park was a guest star in the TV series Nikita. He played a character called Brendan, the London Guardian.

Returning as Maul

Ray Park returned to play Maul in Solo: A Star Wars Story in 2018. It was a cameo appearance. Again, Sam Witwer provided the voice for Maul.

In 2019, it was announced that Park also played Maul in the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He did the motion capture performance, and Sam Witwer voiced the character.

There were reports that Park might play Maul again in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi in 2022. However, the character's role was changed during the show's development.

Filmography

Movies

Television Shows

See also

In Spanish: Ray Park para niños