Happy Birthday Ray Park!

Happy Birthday Ray Park! Ray first worked in stunts for Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997).  The part Ray is well known for was as Darth Maul in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999).  It was not only the make-up and design of the character, it was the fierceness, and martial arts prowess that Ray brought to the role.  I saw Ray and Nash Edgerton, the Obi-Wan Kenobi stunt double, recreating the duel at Wizard World in 2004.  It was at full speed which was impressive! We saw Maul cut in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber, but you can’t keep a Sith down.  Next, he had a speaking part as the Toad in X-Men (2000). In the action movie, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002), Ray played A.J. Ross, leading the agents going after Lucy Liu’s Sever.  Ray had a cameo part as a security guard at Lucasfilm in Fanboys (2009).  He had another iconic role as Snake Eyes in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009).  

Ray Park at Wizard World Anaheim, 2011, photo by the author.

Ray had a lead role in Hellbinders (2009) playing a mercenary, Max, who teams up with an assassin and a Knights Templar to take on demonic forces.  On television, Ray played Edgar, who could move at super speed in Heroes (2009-2010).  Next, Ray played the evil Rugal Bernstein, who fights against Maggie Q’s May Shiranui in the adaptation of the video game, The King of Fighters (2010).  He had a cameo role in 2011 on Maggie Qu’s series Nikita. Ray returned to play Snake Eyes in G.I. Joe Retaliation (2013). Ray starred in Jinn (2014) playing Gabriel caught in the battle with supernatural jinn. The surprise cameo in this year’s Solo: A Star Wars Story was the return of Maul.  In the Clone Wars episode “Brothers” (2012), Maul was found alive and given cybernetic legs.  The Star Wars: Rebels two part episode “Twilight of the Apprentice” (2016) picked up Maul’s appearance. A surprise cameo in this year’s Solo: A Star Wars Story was the return of Maul played Ray Park. Happy Birthday Ray Park!  

#RayPark, #DarthMaul, #Toad, #SnakeEyes

Ray Park and Nash Edgerton at Wizard World Philadelphia, 2004, photo by the author.