Roy later enrolled in The Slim Wood School of Comedy and got his start in the entertainment arena in England in 1970 as a stand-up comic in local cabaret clubs. In April 1970, Roy opened on the UK stage in Ray Cooney's Miracle Worker at the
Palace Theatre, Westcliff-on-Sea. He made his professional screen acting debut in a 1976 episode of
The New Avengers, titled "Target!" as a character named Klokoe. Roy made his film debut later that year in
The Pink Panther Strikes Again, as the Italian Assassin. Another early role was as Mr. Sin, the "pig-brained Peking Homunculus", a villain with a distinct appetite for homicide, in the
Doctor Who serial
The Talons of Weng-Chiang. In 1979, Roy played a genetically engineered life form "Decima" in the first season of ''
Blake's 7 episode "The Web", the diminutive chess genius, "The Klute", in the second season of Blake's 7
episode "Gambit" and he voiced the character "Moloch", in the third season of Blake's 7
episode "Moloch". Roy was a stand-in for the Jedi Master Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back''. He is uncredited on the film but can be seen in many behind-the-scenes photos dressed as Yoda for perspective shots filmed towards the end of production. Roy has played apes in two movies:
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, and again in the
Tim Burton remake of
Planet of the Apes (2001) in two roles, one as a young gorilla boy and as Thade's niece. He has worked for Burton in three other films,
Big Fish (2003),
Corpse Bride (2005), where he supplied General Bonesapart's voice, and
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (also 2005), portraying all 165 Oompa-Loompas
. In referencing his workload during production, director
Tim Burton called Roy the "hardest-working man in
show biz". Roy had extensive training for the role in dance, yoga, and some minor instrument playing. Roy has performed many other roles in films and on television, including
The X-Files,
Flash Gordon,
Return to Oz (as the
Tin Woodman),
Jim Henson's
The Dark Crystal as a puppeteer extra,
The NeverEnding Story as Teeny Weeny, the rider of the "racing snail",
Alien from L.A.,
Howling VI: The Freaks as Mr. Toones and
Return of the Jedi as
Droopy McCool. Roy appeared in
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) as an Egyptian border guard and in the film
Star Trek (also 2009) as Keenser,
Scotty's assistant on the ice planet Delta Vega. He reprised the Keenser role in the sequels
Star Trek Into Darkness and
Star Trek Beyond. In one of his more prominent speaking roles, Roy played Aaron, a violent
Mumbai-born Mexican criminal in the second season of the HBO comedy
Eastbound & Down. Roy starred as Sandeep Majumdar in the 2012 short film
The Ballad of Sandeep. ==Filmography==