Kristin Laura Kreuk is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles on the Canadian television series teen soap Edgemont and on the American television series Smallville in which she starred as Lana Lang. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li is an upcoming film and the second live-action film based on the Street Fighter series of video games. It follows the quest of Street Fighter character Chun-Li, who will be portrayed by Smallville star Kristin Kreuk. The story follows Chun Li’s personal history and her journey for justice. The film co-stars Neal McDonough as M. Bison, Chris Klein as Charlie, Michael Clarke Duncan as Balrog, and Black Eyed Peas singer Taboo as Vega. Rick Yune was originally cast as Gen but has been replaced by Robin Shou, who portrayed Liu Kang in the Mortal Kombat films. The film is scheduled for release in February 27, 2009.
Early life
Kreuk was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her father, Peter Kreuk, is of Dutch descent; her mother, Deanna Che, is of Chinese descent, but was born in Indonesia; her maternal grandmother was born in Jamaica of Chinese descent. Both parents are landscape architects. She has a sister named Justine, who is about five years younger. Kreuk trained in gymnastics at the national level until high school but quit in grade 11 due to scoliosis. She attended Edith Cavell Elementary School and Eric Hamber Secondary School in Vancouver. She had plans to study either psychology, environmental science, or forensic science at Simon Fraser University when a casting director for the CBC TV series Edgemont contacted her secondary school, looking for an exotic-looking girl to play the part of a Chinese Canadian, Laurel Yeung on the Vancouver-shot show. Kreuk’s drama teacher convinced Kreuk, who had no previous acting experience other than in musicals at her high school, to audition for the role. To her surprise, she won the part.
Career
After shooting the first season of Edgemont, a teen soap opera set at a Vancouver high school, and getting herself an agent, Kreuk landed the lead role of Snow White in a TV movie titled Snow White: The Fairest of Them All. The film, shot in Vancouver, also starred Miranda Richardson and was directed by Caroline Thompson. It aired on ABC on March 17, 2002. After Snow White, Kreuk’s agent sent an audition tape to screenwriters Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, who at the time were putting together the cast of a show they had created for the WB Network entitled Smallville. The series, which was slated to be shot in Vancouver, revolves around the life of teenager Clark Kent before he becomes Superman. Gough and Millar called Kreuk to WB’s studios in Burbank, California to audition for the role of Clark Kent’s love, Lana Lang. Originally, Kreuk was unsure about auditioning for Lana’s role, as the character was to be a popular, gorgeous cheerleader, so she assumed that the part would be that of a shallow idiot. However, upon reading the graveyard scene from the pilot, she was so impressed that when she was offered the role, she immediately accepted. She left Smallville in the beginning of 2008, when her character leaves town. She’ll be returning as a guest star for five episodes to wrap up her storyline. In 2003, Kreuk wrapped up her role on Edgemont. In the summer of 2004, Kreuk took the role of Tenar for the Sci Fi Channel two-part miniseries Legend of Earthsea. The miniseries was filmed in Vancouver, directed by Rob Lieberman and broadcast on December 13, 2004.
