Street Fighter: Callina Liang Talks Chun-Li Training

[This story contains spoilers for Street Fighter.]

When Street Fighter star Callina Liang was cast as Chun-Li, one of her all-time favorite video game characters, she understood the fans’ skepticism. In fact, she shared their concerns that her physique didn’t yet match that of the beloved martial artist, whom many consider the most iconic female character in fighting games. She didn’t take the criticism personally, but she still used it as bulletin board material to hopefully win over her doubters.

“A lot of the comments I read online motivated me even more to prove them wrong. But I agree that, physically, where I started wasn’t where I would ideally want Chun-Li to be,” Liang tells The Hollywood Reporter.

From that moment on, Liang went all-in on becoming the beloved fighter, putting herself through an intense physical transformation to embody the undercover Interpol agent. She pumped iron multiple times a week, trained in stunts and martial arts daily and followed a rigorous diet that included 12 eggs per day.

For a character whose martial arts style is defined by her powerful kicks, Liang added nearly three inches to her thighs. The physical overhaul was so dramatic that her stunt double had to wear “butt pads” to mirror Liang’s new figure whenever they swapped in and out of scenes. It’s a staggering metamorphosis, particularly for anyone familiar with the Canadian-Chinese actor’s previous roles as high school girls exploited by their classmates in Steven Soderbergh’s Presence and J.C. Lee’s Bad Genius.

“Honestly, I wasn’t expecting [my legs to keep growing], but the amazing crafty table they had on set definitely helped,” Liang says. “I definitely felt the pressure. I just didn’t want to disappoint anyone.”

Chun-Li infiltrates Lord M. Bison’s (David Dastmalchian) criminal and military organization to avenge her father’s murder at the hands of the Shadaloo leader. At the same time, Bison seeks to lure Ryu (Andrew Koji) into his second World Warrior tournament, where he plans to siphon the reigning champion’s psycho power for himself. Chun-Li helps track down Ken Masters’ (Noah Centineo) estranged adoptive brother, further ingratiating herself with Bison until he offers to formally welcome her into Shadaloo.

In an earlier version of the script, Chun-Li was meant to sacrifice a finger as part of this initiation and show of loyalty to Bison’s syndicate, but Capcom, the creators of the Street Fighter video game franchise, appeared to take issue with the idea.

The hesitation is understandable, especially when you consider the practical complications that could arise if sequels or spinoffs are to follow. It’s a similar predicament to the one filmmaker Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves encountered with John Wick’s own act of fealty in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. The assassin ultimately cut off his own finger, forcing the filmmakers to account for its absence in every subsequent shot of Chapter 3, Chapter 4 and Ballerina, including the added VFX costs of digitally removing it.

The compromise for Chun-Li was considerably less drastic. Instead of sacrificing a digit, she receives the mark of Shadaloo on her inner palm.

“Chun-Li was originally supposed to chop off a finger, but Capcom … They went back and forth with the script, and eventually they decided that hand-branding was the better way to do it,” Liang shares. “If she had no pinky for the rest of the [potential series], it would be deforming the character in a way.”

Getting into spoiler territory, Liang admits she was a little frustrated that Chun-Li didn’t get to fulfill her mission of taking down Bison.

“Honestly, a little bit,” Liang says when asked if she was disappointed. “The whole film, especially Chun-Li’s storyline, builds toward Chun-Li’s final takedown of Bison. But there’s a reason for everything, and hopefully, if we get a sequel one day, we’ll get to explore that. I’m sure it’d be epic.”

During a scene in which Chun-Li tries to wake Ken up to the fact that the tournament is merely a front for draining the power of his former best friend and training partner, Ryu, another creative choice wound up on the cutting-room floor. Dating back to her chemistry read with Centineo, Liang suggested slapping Ken, and her co-star encouraged her to truly go for the jugular. But despite filming the moment on set, the genuine slap ultimately fell by the wayside.

“On the day, we actually tried multiple takes where I physically slapped him across the face,” Liang says. “There was no way to really fake it, so Noah just let me slap him in the face a couple of times. It didn’t end up making it into the final cut, but it was fun.”

Below, in a conversation with THR, Liang also discusses the “Tuesday” homage to Raul Julia’s M. Bison in 1994’s Street Fighter, as well as turning Chun-Li’s infamous shower scene from Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie into an amusing gag.

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I first saw you in Presence, and while it’s not easy to make single-location movies compelling, you guys pulled it off. Did you feel a career bump after that? Did it perhaps open the door to Street Fighter?

Presence definitely opened a lot of doors for me, but I don’t know if it directly connected to me getting Street Fighter. I started auditioning for Street Fighter two years after we finished Presence, so it had been a while. When I first connected with [Legendary Pictures producer] Cale [Boyter], I remember he was like, “No, I haven’t seen Presence.” Maybe he finally watched it after meeting me.

But working with Steven Soderbergh was a huge honor, and I learned so much from being on set with him. Most of my scenes, as Chloe, were with the ghost, and the ghost was essentially the camera with Steven as the DoP. So a lot of it was mainly just me and Steven interacting with each other. It truly felt like a masterclass in cinematography.

On the first day, Steven said to the cast, “I’m going to go all-in. It’s risky to make a movie like this. There’s only one way it’s going to go. It either works or it doesn’t, and we just all have to trust that it’s going to work.” And it ended up working.

You got a call from your reps about auditioning for Chun-Li in Street Fighter, starting with a Zoom call with director Kitao Sakurai and producer Cale Boyter. Afterwards, they signaled to your agent that you were probably dead in the water, but you kept getting called back — to the point that you had to bail on your birthday plans with your friends to fly out for a chemistry read with Noah Centineo. Have your pals finally forgiven you for choosing career advancement over them?

(Laughs.) Oh, absolutely. If any of my friends were unwilling to forgive me, then they weren’t a real one to begin with. It was a crazy ride, and honestly, it was the best birthday present I could have ever asked for. A couple days after I got back from the chemistry read with Noah in L.A., Kitao called me personally to tell me that I got the role of Chun-Li. So it was a dream come true, and there was no better way I would’ve spent my birthday.

Did you and Noah read the bathroom scene where she warns Ken that the tournament is a front to steal Ryu’s power?

We did the scene where Chun-Li invites Ken to the tournament, and then we did the scene of us together in the bathroom. In the chemistry read, Cale sat in on some of it, but it was mostly me, Noah and Kitao working together.

At some point, Kitao was like, “To get Ken to see that the tournament is not a real thing, I think Chun-Li would get physical. Do you think you can add some physicality to it?” And I was like, “Noah, are you comfortable with this?” And he was like, “Sure, go ahead.” And I was like, “Alright, if I have the green light.” So for one of the takes, I grabbed him by the collar and slapped him across the face, saying, “Wake up! This is not a real tournament.” It was so much fun. Then we brought Cale in to watch it, and he was like, “Oh my gosh, I wasn’t expecting that. That was great.”

On the day, we actually tried multiple takes where I physically slapped him across the face. There was no way to really fake it, so Noah just let me slap him in the face a couple of times. It didn’t end up making it into the final cut, but it was fun.

There’s a video of you guys promoting the movie somewhere, and Noah suddenly jumped on the game-inspired car that was there, giving you quite a jump-scare. What’s your version of that story?

ComplexCon was a lot of fun, but hectic. We were up on this stage with an audience of people watching, and all I could think in my head was that I was wearing these six-inch heels with insane platforms. They looked amazing with my outfit. My stylists, Wayman and Micah, kill it every single time. But I was just trying my hardest to stay balanced and not fall over while we were taking pictures and filming content around that car in front of the crowd that gathered at our stand.

Then Noah jumped on the car, but I’m honestly used to it. Working with Noah and [Andrew] Koji, they always pretend to fight each other or jump on things, on and off set. So I was mostly just like, Oh my gosh, I can’t fall over. Not right now. But other than that, I was like, Oh, it’s just Noah being Noah. I didn’t end up falling over, and all was good. But I was concerned about his shoulder. I actually asked him afterwards if he hurt it, and he said he didn’t.

Back to pre-production, you had two months to get jacked, particularly your legs, since Chun-Li is known for her dangerous kicks. Was it a sprint to the finish line?

Yeah, absolutely. I sprinted all the way. Even after filming had started, I kept going to weightlifting sessions whenever my schedule allowed it. Stunt training also kept going all throughout. I learned the first choreo I had to film, and then after we filmed that, I had to learn the second choreo I had to film. So I kept up with the eating, and that’s why my legs kept growing from the first day of filming to the last day of filming. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting it, but the amazing crafty table they had on set definitely helped. So I definitely felt the pressure of time, the expectations of longtime fans and the expectations I had of myself. I just didn’t want to disappoint anyone.

So it’s true that you used the fan response to your casting as bulletin board material?

Yeah, it really was motivation. A lot of the comments I read online just motivated me even more to prove them wrong, but nothing really got to me personally. I was like, Listen, I agree with you guys. As an outsider who’s also a fan of the games and the character, I agree that, physically, where I started wasn’t where I would ideally want Chun-Li to be. But there’s always room for growth. You can always be better, and that’s the way I looked at it.

The Street Fighter cast is such an odd collection of people. You have wrestlers, a rapper, a real-life vampire, a few comedians, a country musician, a bodybuilder and several martial artists. Was the set basically a rambunctious carnival?

Yes, absolutely. There’s really no better way to put it. There was never a dull moment on set. Every day was chaotic, but chaotic in a fun way. I was personally fangirling over 50 Cent whenever he was on set. Eric André and Schulz were always making jokes and filming prank videos. I was always confused by them, but I ended up laughing along with them.

I was actually really intimidated by the wrestlers at first. Who wouldn’t be? You have Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes, and what they do looks scary. But they ended up being the sweetest people. They’re such puppies in the best way, and they were super nice to hang around with on set. And Orville Peck has become one of my best friends after filming this whole thing together.

David [Dastmalchian] is a real-life vampire, for sure, but in the best way. It was magnificent working with him and diving into the psychology of Bison and Chun-Li. We got to do some of the more serious stuff, which excited me a lot personally.

But it was a crazy set. You had your crazy uncles and aunties and cousins, and it genuinely felt like one big, crazy family.

There’s an amazing sight gag in this film after Chun-Li does some drunken nunchucking. She goes to take a shower, and just as she’s about to be revealed, the movie match-cuts to E. Honda’s exposed upper body. Was this gag scripted carefully so that you knew what to expect?

(Laughs.) It was scripted from day one. Kitao sent me a mock-up about a week before we filmed it, showing exactly how they were planning to shoot it, including the push-in and reveal of E. Honda’s big chest. I was made to feel very comfortable from the start, and I knew exactly what I was stepping into on the day. So I was very happy to do it because it’s such an iconic scene from Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. As a fan myself, that’s probably my favorite movie in the franchise, so I was like, “We’ve got to add that Easter egg in there.” And now it’s gotten big laughs at all the screenings. Audiences have loved it. Even I laughed when I first saw it.

Chun-Li is an undercover Interpol officer, and she infiltrates M. Bison’s organization as part of her long-running effort to avenge her father’s murder at his hand. She then brands herself with his Shadaloo symbol to prove her loyalty. Did they do anything on the day to give you some kind of sensation you could play off?

No, actually. That scene used to be something else. I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this, but the movie is out now, so it should be fine. Chun-Li was originally supposed to chop off a finger, but Capcom … They went back and forth with the script, and eventually they decided that hand-branding was the better way to do it.

I remember testing that scene during the camera test. I tried it, and I thought, It’s a lot. She’s about to physically hurt herself. But Kitao kept going, “More, more, more. I want to see it in her eyes. She’s almost shaking.” And I was like, “Alright, say less.”

So, on the day, I mentally channeled whatever pain I could into what was happening physically. But I wish there had been something to help me feel that sensation. It was all just stone-cold acting.

There was a lot of rigamarole with the studio over Keanu Reeves, as John Wick, cutting off a finger in the John Wick series, so that’s an interesting yet familiar story. I wonder if that’s where the inspiration came from.

If she had no pinky for the rest of the [potential series], it would be deforming the character in a way. But regardless, I think the hand-branding worked, and it was very fun to play.

Kitao told me that the reasoning came down to the source material being too substantial to cram it all into one movie, but were you disappointed at all that Chun-Li didn’t get to take out M. Bison in this film?

Oh, man. Honestly, a little bit. The whole film, especially Chun-Li’s storyline, builds toward Chun-Li’s final takedown of Bison. But there’s a reason for everything, and hopefully, if we get a sequel one day, we’ll get to explore that. I’m sure it’d be epic.

You made a good point elsewhere that if she does kill him, who is she after that? She’s devoted her entire life toward this one mission.

Exactly. That’s another part of her storyline and character arc I’d be interested to explore. Whenever I went into my scenes with Bison in this film, I had to tap into this weird mental state of hating him so much, but finding comfort in knowing exactly what Chun-Li needed to do, who she hated and what her mission was.

Even in the moments before she brands herself, he says, “There’s a deep sadness in you and also a great potential.” I almost felt emotional as her during those moments. It’s almost the first time anyone has truly seen Chun-Li for who she is, so there’s a weird sense of emotional support in that moment.

After she brands herself, he brings her up close to the painting of himself, which is hilarious. She could have easily chosen to attack him when he hands her the knife while standing that close to him, but she chose not to. So that’s really interesting to think about because she probably didn’t want her mission to end just yet. She was probably afraid to confront what would come for her, mentally, once it was all over. So I 100 percent don’t know how she’d feel after finally accomplishing Bison’s death.

Maybe you weren’t there for David Dastmalchian’s coverage after Bison hits Chun-Li with the Psycho Crusher, but was there a lot of pomp and circumstance around his “Tuesday” homage to Raul Julia as he walks from her?

Oh my gosh, absolutely. It’s the most iconic line ever. Even before filming started, we were all saying, “We’ve got to put that line in there somehow. We’ve got to find the right moment.” Then I saw the dailies where he delivered that line, and I was like, “Damn, that’s the one.” It was so satisfying to watch, and then it became a thing the rest of the shoot. He shot the line earlier on in the filming process, and every day afterwards, whenever we’d see each other, I’d be like, “Yeah, I’m going to kill you today.” I was just gearing up to fight him. But David was like, “Hey, it’s just a Tuesday for me.” So that iconic line became an ongoing joke between us.

Decades from now, when you look back on this experience, what day will you likely recall first?

The one day that always stands out to me was when we filmed on that beautiful cliffside in Sydney. Chun-Li invites Dhalsim to the tournament, and it was just truly so beautiful. I could not believe we were filming at a location like that.

After the part on the rocks, where Dhalism and his soldiers are doing their thing, we moved on to another oceanside cliff where the chopper is. Chun-Li has this crazy fight sequence with three of her Interpol bosses, and then kicking [Kyle Mooney’s] Marvin in the balls was the end of that day.

So it was such a beautiful day. I got to fight three guys, kick another one in the balls and drive off in a van. It was a great day. I’ll never forget it.

I wonder if it was a Tuesday.

It might have been a Tuesday!

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Street Fighter is now playing in movie theaters.