 From Darth Maul To The Toad
by Brad Cook Mortal Kombat II: Annihilation (1997) Born in August,1974, in Glasgow, Scotland, martial arts expert Ray Park has had limited experience acting in films before taking on the role of Mortimer Toynbee/Toad in X-Men. However, his filmography is impressive nonetheless. He wet his feet as a stunt double in 1997's Mortal Kombat II: Annihilation before jumping into the production of the most highly anticipated film of 1999 -- Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace. As the thoroughly evil Darth Maul, he had only a handful of lines and minimal screentime but proved to be the most popular character in the movie. He also choreographed the lightsaber battles, which were much more impressive than their predecessors in the original trilogy of films. He's currently slated to reprise that job for Episode Two, which has led many fans to surmise that he will return on the screen as well, but only creator George Lucas really knows if that will happen. After wrapping production on The Phantom Menace in late 1997, he choreographed the battles in Tim Burton's 1999 film Sleepy Hollow and was the stunt double for the Headless Horseman. He then played the role of a pirate in a Scottish stage production of Peter Pan. After that, he headed to China to sharpen his fighting skills before Bryan Singer cast him as Toad for X-Men. Park worked with stunt coordinator Nick Gillard for the Star Wars and Sleepy Hollow films but didn't do any choreography work for X-Men. Wu Shu was Park's martial art of choice for The Phantom Menace because of its style. He was originally brought on board the Star Wars production to simply do some test shots and wound up with his part when producer Rick McCallum was amazed by his abilities. A second-degree black belt, Park was turned on to Wu Shu (the Chinese word for martial arts) by his father, who idolized Bruce Lee, another Wu Shu master. The films of Jackie Chan and Jet Li also heavily influenced Park. Like them, he wanted to get into movies as a fearsome fighter. When he was a toddler, Park's family moved from Scotland to London, which he still calls his home. The first film he saw when he moved to London just happened to be Star Wars, which also had a big impact on his childhood. Like many that were born in the 1970s, he had tons of Star Wars toys and used to have lightsaber battles with his younger brother. He idolized Han Solo while his brother emulated Luke Skywalker, and together they saved the galaxy again and again.
Park opened a gym in London and taught classes during this time. Unfortunately, since he had no one to teach the classes for him when he was away, Park had to close up shop when he took on the role of Darth Maul. He later took on some private students after filming The Phantom Menace, but his opportunities to teach them became few and far between. As an actor with credits in some major motion pictures, he's had to endure his share of media glare and fan scrutiny. After The Phantom Menace hit theaters, he caused a small scandal in the UK by appearing at a convention and charging for autographs, a practice which may be accepted in the United States but not in England. The British tabloid The Sun even made the story front page news despite the fact that other actors at the con were charging for autographs and Park often gave his away for free to children. He was also forced to cancel an appearance at a Canadian con due to his X-Men commitments, but the promoters of the show didn't bother to tell attendees until they got there. Angry fans blamed Park and his manager, Larry Bore, but Park insisted he had given notice two months earlier that he couldn't make it. Currently, Park is on the publicity trail once more to promote his part in a major motion picture. He has said in several interviews that his goal is to be like his childhood idols and act in movies, not simply be a stunt man, and so far he's been able to live out his dreams.
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