ERNIE REYES JR.

Ernie Reyes, Jr.

Ernie Reyes, Jr. (born January 15, 1972 in San Jose, California), is a Taekwondo practitioner and actor. The grandson of Filipino immigrants, Reyes Jr. began to practice the art at the age of four, under the tutelage of his father, Ernie Reyes Sr. He has two brothers and two sisters. He is a Scientologist.

Reyes Jr. continued his education in martial arts through his childhood, and, by 1979, he was fighting adult competitors at tournaments. Some of his opponents were black belt bearers.

By 1983, Ernie Jr. had joined his father's group, the "West Coast Demo Team". Through his father's connections, Reyes met such Martial Arts and movie stars as Tony Thompson and Cynthia Rothrock.

When Ernie Jr. was twelve, he turned his attention to acting. Having met with Berry Gordy, he was given a part in The Last Dragon.

Film career

Ernie played a prince in the 1985 production, Red Sonja. In that movie, he shared the screen with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Brigitte Nielsen. During this time he also had his own television series "Sidekicks", which is a spin-off of the original Walt Disney one-time special, "The Last Electric Knight", alongside Gil Gerard (formerly television's Buck Rogers). He had roles in Surf Ninjas and in the second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film The Secret of the Ooze. He also served as the martial arts stunt double for Donatello in all three Ninja Turtles films. His latest movie roles were in Rush Hour 2 playing as Zing and in The Rundown alongside former WWE wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. He is also the host of MTV's Final Fu. Reyes has also starred in the tv series "Kung Fu" alongside David Carradine. He also stars in the movie, 'The Process' (released 2006?) with his father.

Reyes Jr. continues to participate in movies and he has also begun to train in the Muay Thai discipline.