When something goes wrong in our lives we often ask ourselves "Who was present?" and if there was ever a singular person that was present in whatever the event was when something changed our lives. If we can't get beyond that event, we become obsessed with it or it changed our life in a way that we can't make sense of. We often seek out that person because that was the last time our lives made sense.
When you're a liar, a person of low moral fortitude, really any explanation you need to be true can be true. Especially if you're smart enough. You can figure out a way to justify anything.
Eventually I booked a 2-line role on a show called 'JAG' and slowly the parts got bigger and better. I'm very thankful that I had to appreciate how difficult the business is before I had any kind of success.
The thing I love about these Star Wars characters is that I kind of believe we're all just stewards, temporary caretakers. Darth Maul is Ray Park and Peter Serafinowicz voicing Ray Park, but mostly I think that presence on the screen, that's what Darth Maul is. When you watch Clone Wars and you watch Rebels, I am contributing to that presence and that character. Sometime in the future, if I'm not right for it and someone else steps in because there's some move for that character, I completely accept that. I contributed.
However, a Jedi who only fights in self defense and draws his lightsaber only to defend the innocent or to strike down his foe as quickly and painlessly as possible, that's what the lightsaber is for. That's what a Jedi is supposed to be. That's how it's supposed to go down. It's not supposed to be pretty or flashy. It's simply a necessary move. And that's it. Only the most necessary moves survive into the original Star Wars trilogy.
Darth Maul dies and it's okay. And maybe he'll be picked up later and another actor will play him and that's okay. However if they call me up and they need him for this or that and they want me to play him, then that's okay too. I do actually love this character. I feel strongly about him. I feel badly for him and if there's anything more I can contribute to him or the larger Star Wars mythology I will continue to do so and if my time has come then I will watch as a fan the way I have since I was born.
One thing I think is interesting is the Jedi in the prequels are supposed to be peacekeepers, and certainly had a very artful way of making war. They had an artful way of defending themselves and inciting violence, really. You find that the Jedi who survived all of that had a much more simpler way of going about things.
That's one thing about Dave Filoni. He doesn't call me up unless there's something to think about or there's something that we have to work out on a philosophical or moral or a mythological riddle that we need to solve. Some sort of moral conundrum that we need to place our feet on one side or the other. It's fun when we can ambiguously put those feet into the sand and let the fans discover for itself what it all means.
If I'm being honest, I'm sad even right now because I've been Darth Maul for several years and we've been through a lot together, me and that guy. Saying goodbye was - there was some sorrow but there was a great satisfaction in having that closure. And in a weird way, I think Darth Maul shared my satisfaction with that.
Obi-Wan understands that the best thing he can do is contribute something positive to the world around him and then to leave. And if he does that, he will in some ways live forever because the good influence of what he did will be felt. It may sound corny but that's kind of the way I feel about contributing to Star Wars characters. It isn't about me. It's about the story. It's about the mythology of Star Wars and the moral implications of that mythology.
I think Darth Maul has been on a vicious cycle, he's been on a merry go round. In some way he's begging for Obi-Wan Kenobi to take him off that ride.
Without anyone's help, Darth Maul will only commit himself to his mistakes of the past. Every time we find this character, he is living in the past and in some cases he is living with the dead. This character is desperate and he needs Obi-Wan's help to move on.
The Disney sale happens, Clone Wars closes out, and they start Rebels. And I remember talking with Dave Filoni at the studio, at a time when I didn't know what I would or wouldn't be doing for Star Wars. And Dave kind of shrug his shoulders and says what I don't have the courage to bring up, which is, "You know Maul is coming into Rebels, right?" And I was hoping! I feel like this guy, he got his mileage. He's had more than his fair share at trying to make his mark on the Star Wars universe.
