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Ernie Reyes, Jr.
Born	January 15, 1972 (1972-01-15) (age 38) San Jose, California, U.S.

Ernest E. Reyes, Jr. (born January 15, 1972) is an American actor and martial artist.

Biography

Early life

Reyes was born in San Jose, California, the grandson of Filipino immigrants. He has three brothers and two sisters, one of whom, Lee Reyes, is an actor and another, Santino Ramos, is a filmmaker/animator.^[1] By 1983, Reyes had joined his father's group, the "West Coast Demo Team". Through his father's connections, Reyes met such martial artist and movie stars as Tony Thompson and Cynthia Rothrock. When he was twelve, he turned his attention to acting. Having met with Berry Gordy, he was given a part in the feature film The Last Dragon. The part was brief, but quite memorable.

Career

Reyes, Jr. 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, a spin-off of the original Walt Disney one-time special, The Last Electric Knight, alongside Gil Gerard. Reyes had starring 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 the first Ninja Turtles film. His latest movie roles were in Rush Hour 2 playing Zing and in The Rundown alongside former WWE wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. He is also the host of MTV's Final Fu. Reyes guest starred in the TV series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues alongside David Carradine.

After Surf Ninjas, he decided to refine his craft. He studied acting, writing and directing at the American Repertory Company. It was here he began to delve into his artistic side. He later became good friends with the founder Manu Tupou, who later became his artistic consultant^[2]. Around this time, he made his directorial debut with the movie The Process which was later released as the Ultimate Fight. He continues to participate in movies and has had three fights in the Muay Thai discipline, two of which aired on ESPN2 . He was seen in TMZ on September 17, 2008 on Fox, and also appeared in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) as Cemetery Warrior #2. He also has a new movie coming out called The Red Canvas, which won four awards at the 2009 Action on Film Festival, including Best Male Action Performer (Ernie Reyes Jr.) and Best Picture. This film includes some historical cinema aspects. It was the first film shot with the RED ONE 4K camera, and the first movie to premiere “Off Planet” on the ISS International Space Station. In addition, Reyes reported his admiration for Manny Pacquiao "I believe Manny is an excellent fighter, and covet his fame".

Selected filmography

• The Red Canvas (2008) as Johnny Sanchez
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) as Cemetery Warrior #2
• The Rundown (2003) as Manito
• Rush Hour 2 (2001) as Zing
• Poolhall Junkies (2002) as Tang
• Secret of the Horse (2001) (TV) as Victor Tran
• The Process (1998) as Jesse
• White Wolves II: Legend of the Wild (1995) as Steve
• P.C.H. (1995) (TV) as Koji
• Surf Ninjas (1993) as Johnny
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) as Keno
• Taekwon sonyeon Erniewa Master Kim (1989) as Ernie
• Red Sonja (1985) as Prince Tarn
• The Last Dragon (1985) as Tai (Karate Student)

References

External links

• Ernie Reyes, Jr. at the Internet Movie Database