Star Wars Cast Ray Park as Darth Maul Because of a Terrible Video Game Movie

When you’re in “Star Wars,” you don’t always need as many lines or as much screen time to become a fan favorite. Just ask Ray Park, who quickly rose to fame within the fandom after playing Darth Maul in 1999’s “The Phantom Menace.” Park doesn’t utter a single word as the character, as Maul’s few lines were dubbed by Peter Serafinowicz. When the character was resurrected for “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and “Star Wars Rebels,” his voice was performed by veteran voice actor Sam Witwer. But Park’s version of Maul has remained near and dear in fans’ hearts due to his unforgettable physical presence and martial arts skill. And yet, it probably never would have been cast if it weren’t for a truly terrible movie.

In 1995, “Mortal Kombat” gave us one of the best video game movies we’d seen in decades. It’s ridiculous and cheesy, sure, but it’s also fun and captures a lot of the spirit of the games. That made it even more tragic when the sequel, 1997’s “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation,” turned out to be a flaming garbage barrel full of bad decisions and abysmal special effects. Fortunately, it also gave Park his big break working as a stuntman, which led directly to his subsequent audition for “Star Wars.”

“I did everything in that movie,” Park said. Star Wars Insider in 2003 regarding his work “Annihilation.” “I didn’t know anyone in the film industry, but after ‘Mortal Kombat 2,’ everything started happening.”

If “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation” only served to get Ray Park’s attention, it was worth it. Without him under Maul’s red and black alien skin, it’s hard to imagine the climactic lightsaber duel of “The Phantom Menace” becoming the legendary sequence it is today. That said, Park wasn’t even a union member when he worked on “Mortal Kombat 2,” and the work wasn’t exactly what you’d expect from a soon-to-be-famous stuntman.

“I put boxes together, was the crash pad man, and advised the actors on their fight scenes,” Park told Star Wars Insider, describing the wide range of tasks he was given during the production of “Annihilation.” “That movie was my learning.” Rick McCallum, George Lucas’ producer for the entire prequel trilogy, saw potential in Park when he started hearing about the young stunt star. “This person had to elevate the performances of Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor,” McCallum told Star Wars Insider in 2003. “Ray’s combination of physical agility and menace, that was it.”

The results speak for themselves. While George Lucas received a lot of criticism for “The Phantom Menace,” Darth Maul stood out as what most moviegoers universally loved. Its longevity in canon is a testament to Park’s performance, especially given that Maul was supposed to have died at the end of the film.

While Sam Witwer took on the role of Darth Maul in the animated world of “Star Wars,” Ray Park was destined to play the role again, finally getting his chance (albeit briefly) in 2018’s “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” The revelation at the end of the film that Maul has been pulling many of the underworld’s strings generated some mixed reactions at the time, mainly due to Darth Maul’s complicated timeline. Fans who hadn’t seen “The Clone Wars” may not even have known that he survived their fight in “Phantom Menace,” and unfortunately, Park’s martial arts prowess was wasted in the film, as Maul only appears in a hologram, dubbed by Witwer.

However, in 2020, more than two decades after “The Phantom Menace,” fans finally got a new lightsaber fight with Park as Maul. When it came time to create the climactic Siege of Mandalore arc for “The Clone Wars” season 7, showrunner Dave Filoni wanted an extended duel between Maul and Ahsoka Tano, so the team brought in Park and her fellow stuntwoman Lauren Mary Kim to do everything. Motion capture for battle. The result is possibly the greatest lightsaber duel in any of the animated “Star Wars” shows, and you can really see Park’s distinctive style in the finished product.

So the next time you watch one of Park’s excellent performances in Maul, show a little gratitude toward “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.” Just don’t look at it.