In 1993, Ernie Reyes Jr. looked like he was about to explode onto the Hollywood scene. He had the kicks, the punches, the speed, and—most importantly—the charm. He felt like the next big thing, the kind of star who could stand alongside Jackie Chan. He had just appeared in both Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, was plastered across posters and VHS covers, and had become a hero to ’90s kids everywhere.

Yet by 2001, Reyes Jr. was reduced to a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance in Rush Hour 2. Eight years after standing on the brink of superstardom, he was already fading into the background.

So what happened? How did one of Hollywood’s most promising young action stars become a “what could have been”?

Ernie Reyes Jr. was born in 1972 in California and raised in a tightly knit, martial-arts-driven Filipino American family. His father, Ernie Reyes Sr., is a legend in American martial arts circles and the founder of West Coast Martial Arts. From the age of six, Reyes Jr. was immersed in taekwondo, karate, Filipino weapons, kickboxing fundamentals, and acrobatic tricking.

By that same age, he had already joined his father’s West Coast demonstration team, which became famous for its flashy, high-flying martial arts performances. Reyes Jr. wasn’t just talented—he was exceptional, trained almost from birth to move with precision and confidence.

At just eight years old, his life changed forever.

Reyes Jr. was spotted by Barry Gordy, the founder of Motown and the man instrumental in shaping the Jackson 5. Gordy, who also produced films in the 1980s, saw something special in the young martial artist and believed his abilities would translate perfectly to the big screen.

That belief led to Reyes Jr.’s casting in The Last Dragon (1985). The film, a colorful and stylized love letter to kung fu culture, became a cultural phenomenon—especially within Black American audiences, where martial arts films had exploded in popularity during the 1970s and ’80s. Though Reyes Jr.’s role was small, it was memorable, and the film was a success, earning around $25 million on a $10 million budget.

More importantly, it put him on Hollywood’s radar.

That same year, Reyes Jr. appeared in Red Sonja, a sword-and-sorcery film adjacent to the Conan the Barbarian universe. Starring alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Brigitte Nielsen, it was a massive step up in visibility and screen time. Unfortunately, the film flopped, grossing just $6 million against a $17 million budget. Still, Reyes Jr. had enough momentum to keep working.

Television, False Starts, and Persistence

The late 1980s brought a flurry of television appearances. Reyes Jr. showed up in shows like MacGyver and The A-Team, and even landed the lead role in Sidekicks, a short-lived series about a martial arts prodigy solving crimes with a police detective. The concept had potential, but the show was canceled almost immediately.

Despite these setbacks, Reyes Jr. kept grinding. Then, in 1990, everything changed—though few people realized it at the time.

Becoming a Turtle

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) was born out of the massive popularity of the animated series. The producers needed elite martial artists who were agile, compact, and capable of performing inside heavy rubber suits. Reyes Jr., standing at just 5’4″, was perfect.

At the time, he was already a young adult, but his size—which might have been seen as a disadvantage elsewhere—became a blessing. He was cast as the stunt performer for Donatello.

The film was a phenomenon. On a modest $13 million budget, it became the most successful independent film of all time until The Blair Witch Project nine years later. A sequel was inevitable.

Stepping Out of the Suit

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) gave Reyes Jr. his defining moment. This time, he stepped out of the turtle suit to play Keno, the wisecracking, high-kicking pizza delivery guy who becomes a key ally to the Turtles.

This was his breakout. Reyes Jr. was practically the co-lead human character, featured heavily in marketing, posters, VHS covers, and TV promotions. Overnight, he became a poster boy for early ’90s kids. The movie was another hit, and Reyes Jr. finally looked like a bona fide star.

Hollywood now had its opening to turn him into a leading man.

The Surf Ninjas Problem

That opening came in 1993 with Surf Ninjas.

On paper, it made sense. Surf culture was huge, “ninjas” were a proven draw, Rob Schneider was hot off Saturday Night Live, Leslie Nielsen was a comedy legend, and New Line Cinema had faith in Reyes Jr. The film aimed to be an action-comedy adventure romp.

In reality, it was a tonal mess.

The box office confirmed it: $4.9 million on a $6 million budget. While the film found a second life on VHS and developed a small cult following, it failed to establish Reyes Jr. as a leading man. Worse, he didn’t stand out enough to carry the chaos around him.

In Hollywood, you rarely get more than one real shot at leading-man stardom.

The Long Decline

After Surf Ninjas, the leading roles vanished. Throughout the rest of the 1990s, Reyes Jr. appeared in TV shows and small films like Kung Fu: The Legend Continues and The Process. At one point, he even stepped away from acting entirely, competing as a fighter in ESPN’s Strikeforce in 1999, where he went undefeated.

By 2001, his brief appearance in Rush Hour 2 did little to revive his career.

A glimmer of hope arrived in 2003 with The Rundown, where Reyes Jr. delivered an outstanding fight scene opposite Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. It was fast, brutal, and technically brilliant—a reminder of just how much potential he still had.

But it wasn’t enough.

Reinventing Himself as a Stuntman

Rather than chasing disappearing roles, Reyes Jr. pivoted into stunt work—an unusual transition, especially compared to stars like Jackie Chan, who moved in the opposite direction. Throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, Reyes Jr. worked behind the scenes on major productions including The Scorpion King, Alice in Wonderland, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot.

Stunt work kept him employed, but it came without the financial security or residuals enjoyed by on-screen stars.

A Fight for His Life

In 2014, tragedy struck. Reyes Jr. was diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure. His kidneys were functioning at just 10–15%, requiring emergency dialysis and constant medical care. With massive medical bills and limited income, his family launched a GoFundMe campaign to cover $75,000 in expenses.

The response from fans was overwhelming.

In 2015, Reyes Jr.’s sister donated one of her kidneys, saving his life. He later described the experience as feeling “reborn.” Slowly, he rebuilt his strength, returned to training, and focused on being present for his children.

Today, Ernie Reyes Jr. can be found teaching martial arts, attending conventions, and passing his knowledge on to the next generation—especially his kids. In recent years, he has gone into production on Ninjaverse, a martial arts fantasy film that he wrote, produced, directed, and stars in alongside his children. Shot using virtual production technology, it represents the universe Hollywood never gave him.

Reyes Jr. never became the global action icon he once seemed destined to be. But he also avoided scandal, stayed disciplined, humble, and kind, and survived an illness that could have ended everything.

That kind of legacy can’t be measured by box office numbers.

As Reyes Jr. himself once said, the most important thing is developing the belief that you can do anything you want to do.

For him, that belief never left—it just led him down a different path.