Date of birth: 23 August 1974,
Location:  Glasgow, Scotland, UK
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Actor, Stunt double, martial arts pro
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                   He may not look familiar to you, but he's a martial arts champ, and has been in some of the hottest movies lately, and not one of them actually shows his real face. Ray Park is an actor/stuntman who is making a name for himself in Hollywood. Park's frist movie gig was Mortal Kombat, playing a Rayden stunt double.With a role in one of the most anticpated movies ever,(Star Wars: Episode 1) as the newest villain to come up in the SW universe since Darth Vader,  his character Darth Maul is pretty cool. Then he landed a role in 99's Sleepy Hollow, starring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, and Christopher Walken, he did all the swordfighting scenes as the Headless Horseman. Shortly after, he was asked to become the amphibious mutant Toad a.k.a Mortimer Toynbee, in this summer's blockbuster, X-Men, a movie adaptation of the popular comic book series.
            Ray grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, and was introduced to martial arts by his father, a Bruce Lee fan. He began to take classes at age 7, specializing in the traditional Chinese martial art, Northern shoalin kung fu. The style is called Chin Woo kung fu. Ray soon mastered the art of Shoalin kung fu, and by age 14 began adding other martial arts styles to his list of feats including Wushu, kickboxing, and gymnastics. Two years later, at age 16, Ray won Great Britain’s martial arts national championships for his category.
            Ray began competing in martial arts tournaments, winning his first Gold medal. Quickly building a reputation in London as a talented competitor, Ray was chosen to join a select group of martial arts students who would travel to Malaysia to study. He remained in Malaysia for four months, training with his master and gaining a love for the country that he still has to this day. Ray continued competing and winning, including the First World Wu Shu Championships in Bei Jing, China; The Malaysian National Championships,The European Championships in London, in which he won four gold medals; the International Wu Shu/Chin Woo championships in Tian Qin, China, in which he won two gold medals and one silver, and tons more.
     In 1995, at the age of 21, Ray  competed in the Martial Arts World Championships. He finished 4th in the tournament.  While keeping some jobs (teaching gymnastics,martial arts) he was asked to do Mortal Kombat. After that, he was introduced to Nick Gillard, a stunt co-ordiantor for George Lucas. He played the powerful sith lord, Darth Maul, a tough role, he had to endure hours of makeup each day due to the tattooed face and horns he sported for the movies, not to mention wearing thick black robes while on location in the Tunisian desert.
        While he was filming Sleepy Hollow, Star Wars had become one of the biggest movies of all time, and he was finding his tattooed face on magazines and action figures, he was being called by fans, the "coolest character in the film"
      If you really want to hear his voice and see his face (although it's green in this film) go and see X-Men, his latest film , where he and his evil mutant friends lead by Magneto, bring war against the humans, and the mutants who seek to protect them. Watch out for Ray Park , he's coming to Hollywood, and he'll definately make it big.
       -Aj (Me)