Reyes was born in San Jose, California, to actor/stuntman Ernie Reyes Sr., and is the grandson of Filipino immigrants. He has three brothers and two sisters, one of whom, Lee Reyes, is a boxer and another, Santino Ramos, is a filmmaker/artist. By the age of 6, Reyes had joined his father's group, the "West Coast Demo Team".
Career
Reyes made his film debut at age 13 in the 1985 filmThe Last Dragon. The same year he shared the screen with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Brigitte Nielsen in Red Sonja. 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 presented by Michael Eisner. He also appeared in an episode of the hit television series MacGyver in 1988. Reyes had starring roles in Surf Ninjas, the second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, ', as Keno, the pizza delivery boy. He also served as the martial arts stunt double for Donatello in the first Ninja Turtles film. He later appeared in films such as Rush Hour 2 playing Zing and in The Rundown alongside WWE wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Reyes guest starred in three episodes of the TV series ' alongside David Carradine. In 2006, Reyes hosted the MTV martial arts reality showFinal Fu. Reyes has a professional fight record of 3–0 in Strikeforce which was a large mixed martial arts organization but started out as a Muay Thai and kickboxing organization. Ernie fought Anthony Elkaim the WKA ISKA Champion. Reyes knocked outthe champion in the 3rd round. His next two fights would be won by decision, including a unanimous decision over Veasna Thach which aired on ESPN. Ernie Reyes Jr.'s fight against the champion Anthony Elkaim also aired on ESPN. Reyes has done motion capture stunts for blockbuster films such as Avatar and Alice in Wonderland. He also played a cemetery warrior in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull who gets killed by his own poison dart. Reyes guest starred on "The Frozen Lake" playing "Jay Thapa", a Nepalese soldier who is an expert in knife-fighting. Ernie Reyes jr. Now trains mma fighters. And cornered Nate Diaz in his fight vs Jorge Masvidal.
Personal life
In June 2015, it was reported that Reyes was suffering from kidney failure and is in need of a transplant. According to his sister, Reyes undergoes dialysis three times per week for four hours each day. His family set up a GoFundMe campaign to help raise $75,000 for his medical expenses.
