Who is Rayna Vallandingham? The 13-time world champion starring as a ‘Street Fighter’ villain

Rayna Vallandingham is a martial artist and actress well known among fans of action movies and TV shows. The California native, a fourth-degree black belt, is a 13-time taekwondo world champion in tournaments organized by the American Taekwondo Association (ATA). She won her first title at just eight years old and is now 23, with both her athletic and professional careers continuing to rise. Her latest project sees her play Juli, one of the villains in the new ‘Street Fighter’ movie, which is already in theaters in Spain.

Other Rayna Vallandingham appearances: ‘Cobra Kai,’ ‘Underdog Kids,’ ‘Citadel’ and more

In addition to joining the cast of ‘Street Fighter,’ Vallandingham has appeared in numerous productions throughout her career. Her most recent appearance was in the series ‘Cobra Kai,’ while she has also had roles in ‘Underdog Kids,’ ‘Citadel,’ ‘Clout’ and ‘Pawns,’ among other TV shows, movies and music videos. She has also built a huge following on social media, with 3.5 million followers on Instagram alone.

Rayna Vallandingham on breaking stereotypes

The actress, who is of Indian descent, has spoken about her desire to challenge stereotypes surrounding Indian performers. “It’s always the high school girl with protective parents... And that’s not me at all. I want to break those stereotypes. If I ever have a daughter, she should know she can do whatever she wants, that there’s no box she has to fit into. That would mean everything to me,” she said in comments reported by The National Arts.

Rayna Vallandingham’s passion for taekwondo: “It’s my safe haven”

Vallandingham has explained just how important taekwondo, the sport in which she has been crowned world champion 13 times, is to her. “For me, taekwondo isn’t just a sport or an aesthetically pleasing art form; it’s a feeling. It’s my safe haven, somewhere I can go when I feel lost so I can find myself again,” she told The Pocket Magazine.

Who is Juli, Rayna Vallandingham’s character in ‘Street Fighter’?

In the ‘Street Fighter’ video games on which the movie is based, Juli is an assassin under the control of M. Bison, the franchise’s main villain, and is part of his elite guard. Juli first appeared in the 1998 video game ‘Street Fighter Alpha 3,’ released in arcades and on PlayStation.