ABOUT RAY PARK (from dragoncon.org)

It's often hard to believe that the man behind that red and black tatoo make-up is Scotland's Ray Park. Many who have met him describe him as a "mild-mannered" and "soft-spoken" person, a far cry from his Sith alter ego. As a martial arts expert with little experience in acting, The Phantom Menace created a huge group of fans for Park.

Ray was born in 1975 in Glasgow, Scotland. His family moved to London when he was a small child, and he lives there to this day. The first movie he remembers seeing after moving to England was Star Wars. "I had all the figures and the Millennium Falcon," he told Star Wars Insider. "I wanted to be Han Solo, and my brother wanted to be Luke."

Ray's father introduced him to martial arts at a young age. Park idolized Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, and he began taking lessons when he turned seven. He specializes in Wu Shu, a non-contact sport compared to gymnastics that means "martial arts" in Chinese. Ray is also skilled in other sports like Tae Kwon Do and kickboxing. He has a second degree black belt and placed fourth in the 1995 world championships for Wu-Shu.

It was Ray's martial arts talent that led him to his "big break," the role of the lead villain in the most anticipated movie of all time, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. After appearing as a stunt double in the sequel to the movie based on the best-selling video game Mortal Kombat, Nick Gillard, the stunt coordinator for Phantom Menace, discovered Ray. Within weeks, he had the job. The Phantom Menace was the first time Ray had acted since a high school play eight years earlier. "I did question myself a bit, because it was my first time. But I had confidence in myself, so I just thought I'd give it a go, and if I did it wrong then someone will tell me."

Ray and Nick Gillard, along with fight arranger Andreas Petrides, created some of the most exciting scenes ever seen in a Star Wars film. The brilliantly choreographed lightsaber duels were difficult and time consuming to bring to life, but the final product was amazing.

There was more to the role than just getting the moves down pat. Ray shaved his head and spent upwards of an hour and half every morning in the make-up department. After a while, he would fall asleep while the artists applied his signature red and black markings.

"It was so soothing with the make-up and music playing in the morning, that it'd just send me to sleep." Ray also told the Star Wars Insider that his part as Darth Maul made him want to pursue an acting career, and since that role, he's appeared in Tim Burton's adaptation of Sleepy Hollow, along with Star Wars co-star Ian McDiarmuid.

As for strange hobbies, in the past he has tried a bit of fire-breathing. Also, it should be pretty obvious that Ray is not the voice of Darth Maul; his lines were dubbed by British actor Peter Serafinowicz.

Star Wars Episode I : The Phantom Menace

Sith Darth Maul