29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Star
Star Wars Darth Maul actor with huge role in a second massive franchise
Star Wars isn't short of iconic villains. Darth Vader might be top dog but you've also got grotesque gangster Jabba the Hutt, bounty hunter Boba Fett, and the wicked Emperor Palpatine, to name just a few.
And when the first of the prequel trilogy - The Phantom Menace - was released in 1999, fans were introduced to a striking new villain. Darth Maul was a terrifying figure with his red and black face paint and crown of horns - and of course his iconic double-bladed lightsaber.
This was a breakthrough role for Ray Park, the Scottish actor behind the grim visage, who had previously competed in martial arts tournaments, and had been a member of the British national wushu team. He had also worked as a stunt double, including in 1997's Mortal Kombat Annihilation, and was Christopher Walken's body double in 1999's Sleepy Hollow.
He even added a couple of personal touches to the character. Eagle-eyes viewers will spot Maul only blinks once in the entirety of his screen time in The Phantom Menace. While this adds to his horrifying persona, Ray reportedly made this decision as the red and yellow contact lenses he had to wear
made it very uncomfortable to blink
. Maul also has a piercing in his upper left ear -
reportedly because Ray forgot to take his own piercing out
when he went into make-up.
But this wasn't his only appearance in a major film franchise. Just one year after the release of The Phantom Menace Ray appeared in the first X-Men film as Toad, the acrobatic mutant sidekick to the villainous Magneto. The role even included a nod to his appearance in a galaxy far, far away, when he wielded an iron bar in a similar manner to how he had brandished his fearsome lightsaber.
Ray Park as Toad in a scene from the 2000 film X-Men
(Image: 20th Century-Fox/Getty Images)
The climactic lightsaber duel in The Phantom Menace, which ends with Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn dead and Darth Maul sliced in two by the young Obi-Wan Kenobi, is regularly ranked by fans as one of the best fights in the franchise - in no small part due to Ray's kinetic acrobatic movements. He also showed off his physical prowess as Toad, and later in the two G.I. Joe films in 2009 and 2013 as the silent assassin Snake Eyes.
Although his apparent death at the end of The Phantom Menace was the last time Maul was seen in the prequel trilogy, later animated shows revealed he actually survived, gained a pair of robot legs, and set out on a relentless quest for revenge against Kenobi.
And, when Disney bought the Star Wars franchise in 2012 and announced plans for a new series of movies, Ray said he would be keen to return.
Speaking to in 2013 he said
: 'I was excited about the possibility of the new Star Wars, but I didn't once think about me coming back.
"Talking to everybody, now I'm getting excited. I'm practicing my two-sided lightsabers in hopes that I [will] be asked. I would love to do it. I would love to come back as Maul and take the top off and do the whole tattoo body and robot legs. It [would] be fun.'
And in 2018 the dream came true as Ray made a surprise return as Maul in a cameo in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Speaking to Forbes, the Scottish actor revealed the moment he was asked to return
: "I got the phone call from Lynne Hale from Lucasfilm. And it was really nice of her, because she said to me 'Ray, we're just calling to see if you would like to do it.' And I went 'Yeah. Do you want me on the plane now?''
Ray Park, pictured in 2015
(Image: Getty Images)
In 2020 he also performed motion capture for a fight featuring Maul in animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which was met with an enthusiastic reception by fans.
Speaking in a behind-the-scenes video
, the show's creator Dave Filoni said: 'I wanted this fight to be big, and it got me thinking — and I've known Ray for a while — but why don't we bring Ray in and do some motion capture? He could be Maul one more time, physically fighting."
Speaking during a rehearsal session in the video, Ray said: "It's amazing to play Darth Maul again. We've just been hitting it hard, coming up with some new stuff. It's been really nice, we're trying to do as much as we can - butterfly twists and flips and corkscrews, it'll be fun."
Although Toad did make brief appearances in subsequent X-Men films, including in last year's Deadpool & Wolverine, Ray did not reprise the role.
And there's another role Ray would like to have another crack at.
He told Forbes he'd like to reprise the role of Snake Eyes
- one of the most popular characters in the G.I. Joe franchise.
"I'm in a different state in my life now then I was before," he said. "I'm a lot fitter, I'm older, I'm wiser I think, and I'd like to bring that to Snake Eyes."
He added: "I was signed on for three movies, and I would like to do the third one. I'd like to finish it."
