‘Street Fighter’ Star Callina Liang Goes All Out to Become Chun-Li, Check out her Training Video

Callina Liang is not taking the role of Chun-Li lightly. For the upcoming live-action ‘Street Fighter’ movie, the actress went through an intense physical training program to make sure she could handle one of gaming’s most famous fighters. Her preparation included martial arts, strength training, a major change in her diet, and plenty of time studying Chun-Li’s moves directly from the games.

According to ScreenRant, Liang trained for around two hours every day while working to build more muscle in her legs. She also changed her diet in a major way as she prepared for the role. The goal was not simply to look like Chun-Li, but to develop the strength needed to perform the character’s powerful kicks and fight scenes in a believable way.

Liang trained in several different martial arts during the process, including Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and wushu. That gave her different skills to work with while preparing for Chun-Li’s fighting style. Her physical transformation was also significant, with reports saying she added around six and a half centimeters to each of her thighs during the process. For a character whose design has always been closely linked to her legs and kicks, that kind of preparation could make a big difference once the action reaches the big screen.

But Liang did more than train her body. She also spent a lot of time studying Chun-Li as a video game character. She reportedly downloaded every version of ‘Street Fighter’ onto a PlayStation 5 and recorded Chun-Li’s fights on her phone. She then watched the footage in slow motion so she could study the character’s movements and try to recreate them herself.

That level of research shows how seriously Liang is approaching a character that has been around since 1991. Chun-Li is one of the most recognizable fighters in the entire ‘Street Fighter’ franchise, so fans already know exactly how she is supposed to move. Liang had to find a way to make those familiar attacks work in a live-action movie without simply copying what players have seen in the games for decades.

Her diet was another major part of the transformation. During the muscle-building stage of her preparation, Liang reportedly ate as many as a dozen eggs a day. It was a demanding routine, especially considering that she had only about three months between getting the role and starting production. The actress had to make the most of a very short window before cameras started rolling.

Liang had already made it clear before ‘Street Fighter’ that she wanted to take on tougher physical roles. Screen Realm previously reported comments from the actress in which she talked about wanting to play a character in the style of John Wick. “I want to ride a horse, shoot some guns and kick ass,” she said. Getting cast as Chun-Li ended up giving her exactly the kind of action-heavy role she had been looking for.

The new ‘Street Fighter’ movie is set in 1993 and follows Ryu and Ken Masters, played by Andrew Koji and Noah Centineo, as they become involved in the World Warrior Tournament. Liang’s Chun-Li brings the two fighters into the larger conflict, which eventually becomes much more dangerous than a simple tournament.

The movie also has a huge cast of familiar names. Jason Momoa plays Blanka, David Dastmalchian plays M. Bison, Cody Rhodes is Guile, Roman Reigns is Akuma, and 50 Cent plays Balrog. Vidyut Jammwal appears as Dhalsim, while Eric André plays Dan Sauvage. With so many well-known characters involved, the pressure is high for the new movie to deliver the kind of action fans expect from the franchise.

‘Street Fighter’ is scheduled to arrive in theaters on October 16. Liang’s preparation suggests that Chun-Li will be one of the movie’s biggest physical showcases, and her decision to study the games as closely as possible could help make the character feel familiar while still working in a new live-action setting. If the training pays off, fans may finally get a Chun-Li who looks and fights like the character they have known for decades.

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