Street Fighter Star Chris Klein On Becoming An Action Hero

Actor Chris Klein pontificates on the trials and tribulations of becoming an action star in Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, opening this weekend in theaters across the country.

Klein plays Charlie Nash, who in the movie is a police officer on the trail of Bison, as opposed to the Air Force lieutanant he is portrayed as in the series. Nash is Klein’s first action hero role, requiring him to learn how to handle handguns and participate in his first official exploding-building dive, a milestone for any aspiring action star.

There was so much noise and so much going on. It comes off really good on screen, it was absolute mayhem. I remember right before we did the jump stunt, I looked at [the producer] and said, ‘It all starts right now. This is going to be three nights of mayhem.’ And he goes, ‘Don’t get hurt.’ I’m blasted out of that building. You see my face and everything. I’m blasted out.”

He’s blasted out! Doesn’t that sound exciting?

Unlike his co-star Kristen Kreuk, Klein actually played the Street Fighter games as a kid, which means we can actually blame him if the movie does horrible things to our memories of the video game.

“I started my Street Fighter 2 on Super Nintendo,” Klein said. “That was the first Street Fighter that I played outside of the arcade. I wasn’t good at it, not nearly as good as my peers, but I liked it. I remember it being the first one-on-one action fighting game that I really liked.”

No way? We remember it that way as well. What a coincidence!

We’ll find out if Klein honors Charlie’s memory when the film hits theaters this weekend. If not, we’ll send Guile after him.

Chris Klein on Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li [CanMag]