Street Fighter star Rayna Vallandingham wants to rewrite the rules for Indian women on screen
By the time Rayna Vallandingham was eight, she had become a taekwondo world champion. Yet when she looked to film and television, she struggled to find an Indian woman whose story reflected her own. The years she spent training and competing had given her a different idea of what she could become. Now, with her roles in Cobra Kai and Street Fighter , she wants young girls watching her to have…
At eight years old, Rayna Vallandingham had already achieved fame as a world champion in taekwondo. Despite her success in the sport, she found it difficult to see Indian women portrayed realistically on screen. The training and competitions she experienced throughout her youth gave her a unique perspective on what was possible for a woman like herself.
Now that she has roles in both Cobra Kai and Street Fighter, she hopes to inspire young girls who watch her to believe that their ambitions are attainable. "Growing up, when I watched Indian women on screen, they were always portrayed the same way, and it was in a very nerdy way," she explains. "It was always the schoolgirl with the protective parents, and I was like: 'That’s just not my experience at all.'
And I wanted to rewrite the slate on that and break those stereotypes." A mixed-heritage actress whose mother is Indian and father is Dutch, Vallandingham plays Juli in Street Fighter. Prior to her role in the film, she was a 13-time world champion in taekwondo. Her character is based on her martial arts background and Indian heritage, with Vallandingham drawing on her grandparents' speech patterns to perfect her accent.
Playing Zara in Cobra Kai brought together her sports experience and cultural identity. Joining Street Fighter, she is part of an ensemble of women with diverse motivations and personalities. Director Kitao Sakurai describes the characters as strong and complex, which Vallandingham found encouraging. The film also brought together actresses at various stages of their martial arts training.
Vallandingham, who had extensive competition experience, found the role transformative. Her co-star Callina Liang, a newcomer to action films, credits the role with changing her life, leading her to pursue weightlifting, stunt work, and martial arts. Both actresses hope their representation will inspire girls to explore their own potential.
Vallandingham emphasizes the importance of representation, hoping that her daughter one day could look up to her and realize her limitless potential. The impact of this representation has already been felt, as evidenced by David Dastmalchian, who plays M Bison, whose nine-year-old daughter was moved by seeing Vallandingham and Liang together at the film's screening.
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