Darth Victory for Kombat Vet

Darth Victory for Kombat Vet
Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi are worthy opponents for Ray Park's Darth Maul onscreen, but Park had seen worse by the time he was 18. "I was coming home late at night," remembers Park of the London encounter, "and I was randomly attacked by 10 drunk guys with knives who were about my age. Due to my training in martial arts, I was able to keep a strong mind, and I was agile enough to defend myself."

Park is a champion in the leaping martial art of wushu.  
Park, 24, who grew up revering Bruce Lee, was also agile enough to begin his movie career by accident; a stunt coordinator for Mortal Kombat: The Annihilation saw him working out at a gym in London and was dazzled enough to hire him as a stuntman. Word soon got out to the London set of Menace, and after a brief audition, Park, who has a steady girlfriend and lives in London, knew he'd won the call to be Maul when he was driving to a martial arts competition and producer Rick McCallum told him over the car phone, "Pull over." Now, Park, whose voice was dubbed by another actor (it wasn't dastardly enough), is featured (in his splendidly evil Darth Maul makeup) on the cover of the Menace novelization that is outselling the three other covers. "I think that's unbelievable," says Park. "I guess people always go for the bad guy."

Written by: Kyle Smith.
Reported by: Liz Corcoran, Jane Cornwell and Simon Perry in London, Amy Brooks, Susan Christian Goulding, Chris Lee and Elizabeth Leonard in Los Angeles and Sue Miller in New York City


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