New Delhi, Oct 15 Actor Callina Liang, who features alongside Vidyut Jammwal in “Street Fighter”, says she was impressed by the Indian actor’s physique as well as his calm demeanour on the sets where he would often reassure her during stressful moments.
“Street Fighter”, which is set to be released in India on Friday, is based on the popular video game of the same name.
Liang, the rising Canadian star best known for featuring in Steven Soderbergh’s 2024 movie “Presence”, and Jammwal, the star of “Force” and “Commando” franchise, are part of ensemble cast that also includes Andrew Koji, Noah Centineo, Jason Momoa, Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and David Dastmalchian.
The actor, who plays the fan-favourite character Chun-Li, said she had a great time working with Jammwal.
“Vidyut, he is so funny. I love him so much. I just remember that he was always so calm. Whenever everyone was freaking out or in a rush or being like, ‘Oh, we need to do this, we need to do that’, Vidyut was always just very calm. Also very nice to talk to.
“And whenever I was like, maybe stressed out, he would say, ‘Don’t worry about it. Everything’s going to be fine’,” Liang told PTI in an interview.
“Street Fighter” follows estranged fighters Ryu, played by Koji, and Ken Masters, played by Centineo, who are drawn back into combat when Chun-Li recruits them for the World Warrior Tournament.
In the movie, Jammwal plays Dhalsim, a fire-spitting yogi who, despite his peaceful nature, takes up combat to provide for his family.
Recalling the scene in which her character invites Dhalsim to the tournament, Liang said she was struck by the actor’s fitness.
“I just remember seeing his body and being like, ‘Oh, my God, this guy is ripped’. Like, there are muscles that I’m seeing on his body that I didn’t even know existed before,” she said.
When she asked him about his fitness routine, Jammwal told her that he trained every day and considered it a form of therapy.
“He told me, ‘I just train every day. It’s part of my therapy. It’s very calming to me. Most people like food. But for me, I don’t like food. I eat because I have to, but I don’t really enjoy it,'” Liang recalled.
The actor also remembered Jammwal’s thoughtful gesture after she complimented his sweatpants and asked where he got them from.
“He was like, ‘It’s from India.’ And then when we met a couple of months later, he bought me the sweatpants. He bought me two pairs in two different colours,” she said.
For Liang, portraying the character of Chun-Li was really special as she grew up playing the “Street Fighter” video games in Beijing.
She recalled asking her grandmother to take her to an arcade after school and that’s where she first encountered the games.
“It was my introduction to fighting video games. I’m a huge gamer now, I still game like every day. But I played Chun-Li only because I’m Chinese and it was just so cool seeing someone of my race represented in such a strong, bad*** way.
“And she looks so cool and also I love her costume. I love her winning pose, it was so cute. As a little girl, I loved it when she did that every time she won.”
Liang said she was overwhelmed when director Kitao Sakurai offered her the role.
“When I got the job, I was screaming. I remember I was in the park near my house and Kitao called me personally and he was just like, ‘You’re in.’ And I’m like, ‘What? What do you mean?’ He’s like, ‘You’re in, you’re Chun-Li.’ And I just started screaming,” she recalled.
The 26-year-old actor said she felt a sense of responsibility towards the character as a longtime fan and wanted to ensure she gave the role her best effort.
“I wanted to give it my all. And even because I’m a longtime fan, I was like, ‘Even if it wasn’t me playing the character, I’d like to see whoever plays Chun-Li give it their all,'” she said.
Liang said she had two to three months to prepare physically for the role between being cast and beginning filming.
“I know I could have done more, but within the time that I had, I’m very proud of the progress that I made, the changes to my body, which, hopefully, shows in the film,” she said.
(PTI News)
