When Callina Liang signed on to portray Chun-Li in the new combat film, she knew the role would demand more than just learning a few choreographed sequences. The iconic character is known for her powerful legs and devastating kicks, and Liang was determined to embody that physicality authentically.
The transformation began well before cameras started rolling. Liang trained for approximately a month and a half on her own before arriving in Sydney, then joined the full cast for an intensive six-week boot camp that would push her body to new limits.
“We got there 6 weeks before the movie started. And we got to train and do choreography and training. So, we did 2 hours in the morning, 2 hours in the afternoon. And just drilled like crazy. And the gym as well. And then we were almost every day we were going to the gym and lifting cuz we had to try to get big for it,” one cast member explained.
For Liang, the most demanding aspect wasn’t the weightlifting or the long hours. It was the relentless kicking drills that formed the foundation of Chun-Li’s signature style.
“Like all of it, but probably the combat. Like Chun-Li got to do some crazy kicks and stuff. Like it was really therapeutic. Every morning I was just like going in for 2 hours just kicking,” Liang said.
Her trainer refused to let her hold back or second-guess herself. “My trainer was like so hard on me that right after I did that he’s like, ‘Again. Like you on set, you can’t be scared. You can’t stop. Again, keep kicking him,'” she recalled.
The training regimen combined multiple martial arts disciplines to capture Chun-Li’s versatile combat approach. “Chun-Li is all kicks. So we did a bunch of Taekwondo training, Muay Thai, and Wushu (Kung Fu),” Liang said. “I did two hours of that a day and strengthened my legs a lot and changed my diet drastically.”
While Liang had some background in wushu from when she was younger, having trained for two years around age 17 or 18, those skills had grown rusty over time. This preparation was different, more focused, and far more compressed.
The physical demands extended beyond the training mat. Building the muscular legs needed to convincingly portray Chun-Li required a dramatic shift in nutrition. Liang adopted a bulking diet that had her eating constantly throughout the day, consuming meals every two hours to fuel her body’s transformation.
“When I was bulking, I ate 12 eggs a day. Every two hours I had to have a meal, and I was on the verge of throwing up,” she revealed. “But it worked. By the end of the shoot, my thighs had grown six-and-a-half centimeters each.”
The grueling schedule took its toll physically. “I fell a couple of times too. I remember I just, I had bruises all over me, but like the spinning kicks, jumping kicks, all sorts of kicks,” Liang shared during another interview.
She worked with resistance bands wrapped around her legs, practiced balancing on one leg for extended periods, and repeated kick combinations until the movements became second nature.
But Liang didn’t stop at physical preparation. She approached the role with the dedication of a method actor studying for a dramatic transformation. Determined to capture every nuance of Chun-Li’s movements, she turned to the source material itself.
“I downloaded every single version of the game onto a PS5 and I recorded all of Chun-Li’s moves on my phone in slow-mo, so I could play them back and study them,” Liang explained.
The intensive process might sound overwhelming, but Liang discovered something unexpected along the way. What began as a demanding job requirement evolved into something she genuinely enjoyed.
“It helped with bulking up my legs because ultimately all I was working on was my legs. So it just, it went hand in hand whether I liked it or not. So yeah, but I found it very therapeutic and now I keep up with the training and it’s a part of my life now, it’s great,” she said.
Even after production wrapped and the movie completed, Liang hasn’t abandoned the training routine that reshaped her body. The hours of kicking drills, the balance work, and the leg conditioning have become permanent fixtures in her lifestyle.
Callina Liang says she still keeps up with her leg training even after the release of ‘STREET FIGHTER’.
“It was 4 hours [of kicking] every day for 6 weeks before we said ‘Action’… I found it very therapeutic, and now I keep up with the training and it’s part of my life.” https://t.co/1d2F35tfZD
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 25, 2026
