Ray Park
| Ray Park | |
|---|---|
 Park at WonderCon 2007 | |
| Born | Raymond Park 23 August 1974 Glasgow, Scotland, UK |
| Occupation | Actor, Stuntman, Martial artist |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Official website | |
Raymond Park (born 23 August 1974) is a British actor, stuntman and martial artist, best known for his portrayal of the physical part of Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Toad in X-Men, Snake-Eyes in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,[1][2] and Edgar on Heroes.[3]
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[edit] Early life
Park was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He was brought up in Govan, Glasgow, where he was educated at Greenfield Primary School, until the age of 7. His family then moved to London. Ray has a brother and a sister.
Young Ray 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. A born athlete, he immediately dominated the field and had added kickboxing and wushu to his endeavours by age 14. When he was 16, Ray won Great Britain's Martial Arts National Championship for his class[citation needed] and then went to Malaysia to improve his skills. He went on to compete in martial arts tournaments around the world and brought home awards before turning his attention to acting in the late 1990s.[4][unreliable source?]
[edit] Career
He began working in movies as a stunt double for the movie 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.[5]
In 1999, Park appeared in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, as the Sith Lord Darth Maul. While the character had a few lines, Park's voice was dubbed over with that of actor Peter Serafinowicz.
In addition to this acting work, he has also been Christopher Walken's fight stunt double for the movie Sleepy Hollow. Park appeared in the scene where Walken's character, the Headless Horseman, kills the killan family and fights and kills Brom Bones.[6]
Park had his first real speaking part in X-Men as Toad. In one scene of this film, after sending Storm (Halle Berry) down an elevator shaft, he picks up a length of pipe and swings it around in much the same way he swung his dual-bladed lightsaber as Darth Maul, a signature wushu movement.
Park has been asked to become a superhero himself, instead of a villain, in a movie about Marvel Comics character Iron Fist, but the movie has been in preproduction for some years now. Iron Fist deals with an American millionaire who becomes a martial artist with the power of focusing his "life force" or chi into his fist, making it glow with energy and become "like unto a thing of iron" and able to impact with superhuman force.
In December 2007, Park was confirmed for the role of Snake-Eyes, one of the original contingent of G.I. Joe, for the movie of the same name, involving a variation of the international G.I. Joe force, which in the comics, fought the minions of Cobra.
He worked with comic book creator-turned-film-maker Kevin VanHook in the movie, 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 "The Descendants", another comic book adaptation based on an independent comic by writer Joey Andrade.[7]
Park also appeared as Edgar in the fourth season of Heroes.
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[disambiguation needed] before it opens the gates of hell itself and overruns the entire world. Park narrated on 26 February 2010 the The FireBreather a car from Classic Design Concepts in Detroit Autorama 2010[8], the vehicle is part of the Supernatural thriller Jinn, which will earn a lead role.[9]
[edit] Personal life
Ray is married to Lisa and has a daughter and a son. The family now reside in Los Angeles.[10]
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Mortal Kombat: Annihilation | Raptor #3/Tarkata #2 | double for Robin Shou |
| 1999 | Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace | Darth Maul | 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 | (doubled for Christopher Walken in "headless" sequences) | |
| 2000 | X-Men | Toad | |
| 2002 | Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever | A.J. Ross | |
| 2005 | Potheads: The Movie | Mr. D | |
| 2006 | Slayer | Acrobatic Vampire Twins | (TV Movie) |
| 2007 | What We Do Is Secret | Brendan Mullen | |
| The Legend of Bruce Lee | Chuck Norris | ||
| 2009 | Fanboys | THX Security Guard #2 | |
| G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra | Snake-Eyes | ||
| Heroes | Edgar | Season four, recurring role | |
| Hellbinders | Max | ||
| 2010 | The King of Fighters | Rugal Bernstein | post-production |
| Jinn | Gabriel | post-production |
[edit] References
- ^ "GI JOE - YO JOE, The Snake Has Returned". Kung Fu Magazine. http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=833. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
- ^ "Interview: Ray Park on the Set of G.I. Joe". IESB. http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7200:interview-ray-park-on-the-set-of-gi-joe&catid=44:interviews&Itemid=172. Retrieved 2010-06-10.
- ^ "Ray Park: Unmasked on HEROES". Kung Fu Magazine. http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=840. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
- ^ The Ray Park Picture Pages-Childhood and Family: http://www.superiorpics.com/ray_park/
- ^ "Ray Park and Martial Arts: Part 1". Kung Fu Magazine. http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=258. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
- ^ "Ray Park and Martial Arts: Part 2". Kung Fu Magazine. http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=278. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
- ^ Interview with G4TV: http://www.g4tv.com/pile_player.aspx?video_key=17177
- ^ Ray Park to Breath Fire in Jinn; Meet Him This Friday in Michigan
- ^ Movie Company Exodus Pictures Announces Actor Ray Park to Unveil Hero Car Debuting at Detroit Autorama 2010
- ^ The Ray Park Pictures Pages-Childhood and Family: http://www.superiorpics.com/ray_park/
[edit] External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ray Park |
