Niagara Falls Comic Con: TAE Meets Ernie Reyes Jr.

Today was the final day of the Niagara Falls Comic Con and I saw that the great Ernie Reyes Jr. was there to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie.

Ernie needs no introduction around these parts having played Donatello in Ninja Turtles during the fight/stunt scenes, Ernie Lee in Sidekicks, Manito in The Rundown alongside Dwayne Johnson, Zing in Rush Hour 2, Johnny in Surf Ninjas, Prince Tarn in Red Sonja and Tai in The Last Dragon. He also played the cemetery warrior in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Hiroshi in Ninja Apocalypse and many other roles including stuntwork.

It was such a pleasure to finally meet him today and tell him what a fan I was of his; I asked him how his health was and he said that he is doing great. I was also telling him about this site and what we do here and he also loved my Ninja III shirt which is admittedly awesome.

Here’s you you, Ernie and keep up the good fight.

I also found a bit of trivia about Ernie from his IMDb page too:

• Holds 6th Dan (Degree) Black Belt in Tae-Kwon Do under his father Ernie Reyes Sr.
• Trained and competed in Muay Thai.
• Son of Ernie Reyes Sr.. They starred together in Surf Ninjas (1993).
• Offered the role of Donatello in the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, but had already started Surf Ninjas.
• Filipino American.
• Muay Thai Kickboxing Weight Class: Light Welterweight.
• Was considered for the role of Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat (1995).
• Recorded a Hip Hop CD called “Asia’s Last Dragon”. Unfortunately it was never officially distributed.
• 3 younger brothers, Lee Reyes, Santino Ramos, Ki Reyes and two younger sisters, Destiny Reyes and Espirit Reyes.
• Both he and his father were named after Ernesto Reyes, Ernie’s paternal grandfather…which means that Ernie is actually Ernie Reyes III.