Callina Liang has spoken out about the brutal fitness regime that left her “on the verge of throwing up” while preparing to play Chun-Li.
The Canadian actress, 26, bulked her thighs by 6.5 centimeters each for the upcoming “Street Fighter” film through a punishing combination of martial arts training and a 4,000-calorie daily diet. Her preparation centered on the character’s signature kicking ability, which required intensive lower-body development.
Liang detailed her physical transformation in an August interview with Empire Magazine. “Chun-Li is all kicks,” she said. “So we did a bunch of Taekwondo training, Muay Thai, and Wushu (Kung Fu). I did two hours of that a day and strengthened my legs a lot and changed my diet drastically.”
The dietary demands proved as grueling as the gym work. “When I was bulking, I ate 12 eggs a day,” Liang continued. “Every two hours I had to have a meal, and I was on the verge of throwing up. But it worked. By the end of the shoot, my thighs had grown six-and-a-half centimetres each.”
Her commitment extended beyond physical conditioning into meticulous character study. Liang downloaded every version of the Street Fighter franchise onto her PlayStation 5 to analyze the fighter’s in-game movements frame by frame.
“I downloaded every single version of Street Fighter onto a PS5 and I recorded all of Chun-Li’s moves during fights on my phone in slow-mo, so I could play them back and study them,” she added in the Empire interview.
Chun-Li holds landmark status in gaming history as the first female character introduced in the classic fighting series. The Chinese martial artist debuted in 1991’s “Street Fighter II” and became one of the franchise’s most recognizable figures, celebrated for her powerful kicking techniques and Interpol officer backstory. Her muscular physique, particularly her developed legs, has been a defining visual trait across decades of games, animated adaptations, and prior live-action portrayals including a 1994 film.
Liang’s preparation stands apart from Hollywood’s growing reliance on pharmaceutical assistance for physical transformations. Her all-natural approach through traditional bulking methods mirrors the intensive regimens of actors like Christian Bale, who famously lost extreme weight for “The Machinist” before gaining substantially for “Vice.”
The film is scheduled for release in UK cinemas on October 16.