The cast of the new “Street Figh ter” film opened up about the intense physical transformation required for the roles, revealing weeks of grueling training that left more than a few bruises along the way.
Speaking about the preparation process, one cast member described a punishing daily schedule that began six weeks before filming started.
“We got there 6 weeks before the movie started. And we got to train and do choreography and fig ht 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.”
Callina Liang, who plays Chun-Li, spoke about how physically demanding the kicking training was for her role.
“Like all of it, but probably the figh ts. 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.”
Additionally, her trainer pushed her to keep going without hesitation.
“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.'”
Callina also revealed she had some martial arts background before joining the film, though it had been years since she trained.
“I did 2 years like when I was like 17, 18, like wushu. But yeah.” She noted that her preparation for this role specifically was much more condensed. “I trained for like I think a month and a half before I got to Sydney, but like yeah, it’s all thanks to the trainers.”
The actress underwent an intense physical transformation to bring the iconic character’s signature physique to life, including martial arts training, weightlifting and a drastic change to her diet.
The results were significant, with Liang revealing that her thighs grew by 6.5 centimeters each by the end of filming.
“Chun-Li is all kicks. So we did a bunch of Taekwondo training, Muay Thai, and Wushu (Kung Fu),” Liang told in an interview. “I did two hours of that a day and strengthened my legs a lot and changed my diet drastically.”
The diet was just as demanding as the training. While bulking up for the role, Liang said she was eating constantly throughout the day, including an eyebrow-raising amount of eggs.
“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.”
Liang also went beyond the physical preparation, immersing herself in the classic games to make sure she could accurately recreate Chun-Li’s movements. She downloaded every version of the game available on her PlayStation 5 and studied the character’s combat sequences in detail.
“I downloaded every single version of Street Figh ter onto a PS5 and I recorded all of Chun-Li’s moves during fig hts on my phone in slow-mo, so I could play them back and study them,” Liang said.
