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Ray Park (I)
Birth name
Raymond Park
Height
5' 9" (1.75 m)
Mini biography
Raymond Park was born August 23, 1974, in Southern
General hospital in Glasgow, Scotland. He has a sister
and a brother. Park always wanted to be in the movies,
but he was most inspired by martial arts. He began to
nurture a love for martial arts from the age of seven,
when his father's love of Bruce Lee films sparked a fire
in the youngster's mind that would never extinguish.
Specializing in the traditional Chinese Northern Shaolin
Kung-fu (in the Chin Woo style Park moved on to master
various other styles, most notably Wushu. Soon becoming
a regular fixture at martial arts exhibitions and
tournaments, the now defined athlete topped Great
Britain's martial arts championships before later
travelling to Malaysia to refine his skills.
Conquering numerous championships worldwide and winning
multiple medals, Park realized a personal dream when he
competed in the Martial Arts World Championships in
1995. It was during one of his frequent visits to
Malaysia that he was approached to audition as a stunt
man for 1997's Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997).
Conjuring memories of his youthful cinematic martial
arts passion, Park attempted to learn as much as
possible about the process of filmmaking. Soon gaining
more scenes and becoming more natural on the set, he was
later contacted by stunt coordinator Nick Gillard to
audition for George Lucas' upcoming Star Wars prequel.
Offered the job by producer Rick McCallum, Park was
given the creative freedom to develop his choreography
by an impressed Lucas, and was soon gaining the
confidence to develop his role to the best of his
abilities. Later essaying the aforementioned headless
horseman in Sleepy Hollow (1999), Park finally saw his
face and voice joined on the silver screen (regardless
of his moves, his voice was dubbed in Star Wars: Episode
I - The Phantom Menace) with his role as Toad in Bryan
Singer's X-Men (2000). Park took the lead as the title
character in Iron Fist later the same year. Though
curious Star Wars fanatics clamoured to rumours that
Park would return as Darth Maul in the eagerly
anticipated Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
(2002), their many speculations were shot down by George
Lucas himself with the announcement that although that
specific character would not return for the sequel, Park
would indeed play a role in Episode II.
Though you may recognize his moves, his face has been
curiously obscured in nearly every film in which he's
appeared. As part of one of the biggest franchises in
movie history, martial artist Ray Park was the man
behind the ominous, almost demonic red and black makeup
of the nefarious Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I -
The Phantom Menace (1999), and for his role in director
Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow (1999), fighting Johnny Depp
and Casper Van Dien, he wasn't even given the luxury of
a head!
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