From Orphan to TV Star: Rudy Reyes’ Rise to Prominence

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
Introducing Meta Glasses.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:02)
You have questions, they've got answers.

**John Bickley** (0:05)
Hey Meta, what's the capital of Peru?

**SPEAKER_2** (0:08)
Lima. How do you say, where's the restroom in Spanish? Dónde está el baño? Hey Meta, is a hot dog a sandwich? Technically, no. Spiritually, yes. Hey Meta, what should I do with my life? That's one of life's biggest questions.
What do you think?
Ask anything with the new Meta Glasses.

**Rudy Reyes** (0:34)
It's not the kit, it's not the gear, it's not the guns, it's the passion and the love and the duty to excellence in all things that makes us different.

**Georgia Howe** (0:45)
That was Rudy Reyes, Marine Recon veteran and star of the hit show Special Forces, The World's Toughest Test. In this episode, we sit down with Rudy to talk about his rise from an Oklahoma orphanage to the star of a major network show.
I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire executive editor, John Bickley. And this is a weekend episode of Morning Wire.

**John Bickley** (1:05)
I'm an a fan boy. We're so glad to have you in the studio. It's really fun. Everyone at Daily Wire has been buzzing about this all week. So all of us excited.
There's a lot to talk about. There is your show, season five, streaming on Hulu, like you said, that has become a massive hit. I want to hear about that. First, we were thinking, tell us a little bit about your background. How in the world did you become this world famous guy in TV series and scripted and unscripted? How'd you get here?

**Rudy Reyes** (1:40)
First, I got the golden lottery ticket of being born American first.

**John Bickley** (1:44)
Amen.

**Rudy Reyes** (1:45)
And it's really true.
When I was talking to Lauren earlier, I had a tough childhood and eventually became an orphan and was thrown away.
I know they used the word, the word is bastard. You know, I didn't, I had somebody else was my dad. And it was hard. So I used to pray, right? Until six or seven years old. For some help. I had two little brothers and we were in poverty on the border of Texas and Mexico. Well, things didn't get any better, didn't get any easier. So I learned to adapt. And I took charge of my little brothers. And after seeing Rocky and First Blood, I trained and made sure that my little brothers trained with me every day.
A few years after that, we all had worms and lice, and still we trained. Wow. And I built my self-esteem by taking charge of my life first and foremost with physical culture. I read comic books, I saw heroes, I saw Stallone, and I wanted to be like that. And that gave me hope to overcome the immense abuse and neglect.
Then I was taken to the Omaha Home for Boys. Also tough. Gladiator Academy sometimes, you got to fight all the bigger kids. Everybody comes from a tough background, everyone's sad or angry. Everybody's been thrown away, or the parents are dead, or the parents are in prison. And we were taught to work and grind, to run the home. I started working in the kitchen and working the farm. We had to do our chores. We lived in barracks, and our house parents were all military veterans and their wives. We were taught etiquette.
We were taught manners. And we went to a public school to be socialized, even though they all know that we're the orphans, the OHB, Omaha Home for Boys, the homeboys. And we had to overcome stigmas, like real life, like real freaking life. You had to make it on your own with making yourself strong, adaptable, create alliances, soft skills, communicate, even though you're all overcoming pain. I became a wrestler, fell in love with the wrestling mat and the weight room. And the rest is history. I found that being excellent at sport put you in a different class of people. Started going to tournaments, and I saw families that were actually there for their kids. I was like, wow, it'd be so amazing to have a mom and dad be there, right?
And I knew right there, competition is the critical factor. So I said, I'm going to compete the rest of my life in everything I do, because it leads me to a higher place and a better place with better people who care. And that was the bedrock of my life. After kickboxing and doing martial arts and training with China's national team and fighting the Russians and the Chinese.

**John Bickley** (5:09)
Like Rocky.

**Rudy Reyes** (5:09)
Yeah, I just found myself in that made a narrative of authentic heroism, meaning sacrificial. And that's why I joined the Marine Corps.