Actress Adeline Rudolph, who plays Princess Kitana in "Mortal Kombat 2", spoke with journalists from Vogue Singapore. In the interview, she discussed the grueling preparation for the role and the responsibility to the huge community of fans.
For Rudolph, this is her first experience working with a character who has such a rich and established source material. To organically fit into the role, the actress did a lot of analytical work: she studied gameplay videos, character biographies, and storylines from Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios games. Adeline paid special attention to Kitana's origins, her life in Edenia, and her complex sisterly relationships with Jade and Mileena.
"There's so much to each of these characters. Everything I conveyed wasn't made up – it's all literally in the games. There's so much information online about Kitana's backstory: losing her father, her childhood under Shao Kahn's rule... I watched a lot of gameplay and studied the lore to learn as much as I could about her."
But the main challenge for her was physical fitness. Rudolph admitted that she had never practiced martial arts before, so preparing for the action scenes required her full dedication. Despite her lack of experience, the actress worked hard and ultimately performed many stunts herself:
"Oh my god, I definitely enjoyed it, but it was very hard. They knew I had no martial arts experience, but Malai Kim and the rest of the incredible stunt team were willing to work with me. It wasn't as simple as just learning the moves. They really took the time to teach me Tai Chi, Wushu, and Kung Fu and make sure I could integrate them into Kitana's fighting style."
The training and emotional immersion clearly paid off: after the release of "Mortal Kombat 2", Adeline Rudolph, along with Karl Urban, received the most praise from the press and viewers.