The veteran actor took some time to reflect on the first ‘Street Fighter’ movie as the new reboot hits movie theaters.
ByJaelani Turner-Williams
October 17, 2026
Key Takeaways
- Ming-Na Wen celebrated her 1994 turn as Chun-Li by sharing Street Fighter set photos and joking, “Bet some of you weren’t even born yet!”
- Her carousel featured co-stars Raul Julia, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Kylie Minogue, revisiting a cult adaptation marked by Julia’s final film role and Van Damme’s struggles with cocaine during production.
- Wen’s throwback coincided with the new Street Fighter movie starring Callina Liang as Chun-Li alongside Noah Centineo, Andrew Koji, Roman Reigns, 50 Cent, and Eric André.
Ming-Na Wen wants to make sure Street Fighterfans know their history as it pertains to the first movie adaptation of the classic video game franchise.
On Friday (October 16), tied to the theatrical release of the Street Fighter reboot, Wen, who also played the beloved titular character in 1998 animated movie Mulan, took to Instagram to share a few photos from her time on set of the original Street Fighter.
“Who knew I played Chun-Li in ‘Streetfighter’ in 1994? Bet some of you weren’t even born yet! Yatta!!” Wen captioned the post. “For us, it was a Tuesday.😏🥰”
Released in 1994, seven years after the arcade game debuted, Wen played Chun-Li in the original Universal Pictures movie. In the newly released Legendary Pictures/Paramount Pictures reboot, Canadian actor Callina Liang plays the character.
The carousel Wen shared featured images alongside late actor Raul Julia, whose portrayal of General M. Bison marked his final movie role, and Jean-Claude Van Damme, who struggled with a cocaine addiction during filming. Pop icon Kylie Minogue also starred as Cammy White in the Steven E. de Souza-directed movie.
“I couldn’t talk about it at the time, but I can now: Jean-Claude was coked out of his mind,” de Souza told The Guardian. “The studio had hired a wrangler to take care of him, but unfortunately the wrangler himself was a bad influence. Jean-Claude was calling in sick so much I had to keep looking through the script to find something else to film; I couldn’t just sit around for hours waiting for him.
The newly released Street Fighter also stars Noah Centineo, Andrew Koji, Roman Reigns, 50 Cent, Eric André, and more. The movie had a special activation during ComplexCon earlier this month, which select cast members visited.
