EXCLUSIVE | Cody Rhodes reveals his biggest worry playing Guile in ‘Street Fighter’

Cody Rhodes is used to entering an arena with thousands of people watching. Playing Guile in 'Street Fighter' meant finding his footing with a much smaller audience, sometimes just someone behind the camera. The WWE star also had a character with a history waiting for him before he stepped onto the set. Speaking exclusively to MTN, Rhodes put his approach to the role in one sentence: “I wanted to be as much of Guile as I possibly could.”

That commitment came with a change in working conditions. Asked about moving from wrestling crowds to a film set, Rhodes admitted, “You know, I was really worried.” He explained that wrestling performers are “used to the instant reactions and thousands of people in the audience and that kind of symbiotic flow.” His introduction to filming, however, gave him something familiar to work with. “My first few moments in the movie, we did almost have a small crowd, and that was a nice transition for me to see if they're enjoying this,” he said.

The feedback could come from a glance across the set. Rhodes recalled, “even if you just catch eyes with the, the, the DP and he's laughing at something, you're saying, I'm OK, we're, we're starting to find something.” When the conversation turned to preparation, there was plenty of material to consider. The interview touched on the games, graphic novels, anime and earlier movie, along with the question of where this version of Guile fits into that history.

Rhodes had a resource on set for those decisions which was Capcom itself. “It's there. Capcom wrote it for you and we had Capcom on set,” he said of the character's backstory. Their involvement also gave him a sounding board when trying something during a scene. He described receiving approval for “The seriousness, the intent,” alongside an equally direct response when a choice did not fit saying, “He would, he would never.” His response was straightforward, “It's like, yeah, that's fair, scale it back, scale it back, and also bring you.”

The conversation also covered sharing the adaptation with performers from wrestling, comedy and music. “I think everybody wanted to be their character,” Rhodes said. “They didn't want to bring any of who they were to this.” He added, “They wanted to be their character and again, the pressure of taking a character that's so beloved and doing it.”

That brought Rhodes to Callina Liang, who plays Chun-Li. Discussing her assignment, he said, “she had more pressure than anyone on the planet.” He called Chun-Li “the greatest fighting franchise female there ever was,” then added, “Maybe the greatest fighter in a gaming franchise.” For his assessment of Liang's performance, Rhodes needed just three words: “she nailed it.”