MIAMI—Noah Centineo has no complaints about getting back into Ken Masters's incredible shape, and he looked excited to start the whole process all over again during his visit to Miami to promote Street Fighter. Hours before, director Kitao Sakurai had revealed a sequel was already being written.
South Florida-born Centineo was happy to be in home territory. He showed his chops as a local Boca Raton boy and was pumped, albeit tired, to have the fans seeing the movie and understanding Ken's real essence, the abandoned rich boy neglected by his parents, who fears he will never be good enough.
Asked whether another Street Fighter movie would make him dread returning to the gym, the actor had his answer ready. "I look forward to it," he told this reporter. "I love working out like that."
Then came the reason that went beyond the muscles. "I just love this character so much. There's nothing about it that I wouldn't want to do over and over and over again."
Centineo plays Ken in director Kitao Sakurai's Street Fighter, opening in theaters October 16. The latest adaptation of Capcom's video game franchise pairs him with Andrew Koji as Ryu, bringing the estranged fighters together when Chun-Li, played by Callina Liang, recruits them for the World Warrior Tournament. Set in 1993, the film sends them into a competition complicated by a conspiracy and their shared past.
For audiences who met Centineo as Peter Kavinsky, the boyfriend opposite Lana Condor in Netflix's To All the Boys movies, Ken is another step into a career increasingly filled with people who can throw a punch. After romantic comedies including Sierra Burgess Is a Loser and The Perfect Date, he played Atom Smasher in Black Adam and took the lead in the espionage series The Recruit.
He also joined the ensemble of Warfare, the 2025 film written and directed by Iraq War veteran Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland, which reconstructs a military operation through the memories of those involved.
Street Fighter puts him among a particularly eclectic group of opponents and allies: Jason Momoa plays Blanka, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson is Balrog, Cody Rhodes portrays Guile, and Joe "Roman Reigns" Anoaʻi takes on Akuma. Eric André appears as Don Sauvage.
But the conversation with Centineo soon moved from Ken's physique to something less visible: the uncertainty underneath his confidence.
Asked whether he related to that insecurity, Centineo did not hesitate.
"I certainly do relate to that," he said. "I think there's a level of imposter syndrome that is really healthy."
He qualified the thought with a belief in self-criticism, at least enough to keep improving. "You have to be your own worst critic, in my opinion, in some ways so that you can continue to sharpen and get better."
His advice to younger viewers who recognize themselves in that struggle was practical. Confidence, he said, comes from preparing, repeating the work and gradually finding things you know you can do.
"You just work hard, as hard as you can, and you do the preparation," he said. "And it's just repetition, repetition, repetition."
He described an accumulation of small accomplishments rather than a moment when every doubt disappears. You learn one thing, then another. Eventually, there is something concrete to trust. "The only way you achieve that level of assurance comes from just working," he said. "You just have to work."
As for the physical preparation, Centineo's account included a few foods that rarely make the action-star transformation headlines.
Asked what he ate once he no longer had to show off Ken's muscles, he guessed bread, then explained that bread had never entirely left the menu. "I ate good, dude. I ate really good the whole shoot," he said. "We were working out so much that you could afford to have a little bit of sourdough bread here and there."
There was occasional cheese, too, and considerable appreciation for the catering during filming in Australia. "They have this craft service where they just cook the most delicious meals ever," he said, mentioning baked goods and sugar cookies.
The interview also brought out his school loyalties. When told about an unsuccessful attempt to bring him a Boca Raton High School T-shirt, Centineo responded, "You tried to bring me a Boca High T-shirt. That is so sweet."
A shirt from rival Spanish River would apparently have received a different reception. "I would have," he said laughing when asked whether he would have been offended. "We beat their asses every time we play them."
On the question of personal shortcomings, however, he was more forgiving. When the conversation returned to accepting that insecurity might never disappear, Centineo agreed.
"You'll never be perfect and you will always fail," he said. "But that's how you learn."
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