WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
Born in Barbados, it seems that Rihanna has decided to become a jackie-of-all-trades. Unfortunately, she has only ended up being mistress of a few. As a teenager, before my music tastes began to change, I was a big fan of Rihanna’s. So much so that I owned her first five CDs (yes, I am that old) and even bought her first perfume Reb’l Fleur. Now, she has 5 perfumes to her name as well as lingerie, fashion, skin care and beauty collections all under the Fenty brand. Pretty successful, right? I agree, until you look at her acting career – which in my opinion, she hasn’t done so well.
Battleship
Let’s begin with her debut role as Petty Officer Cora Raikes. I recently discovered that Peter Berg wanted Rihanna for this role, as he believed from what he had seen of her that she would make a great actress. Based on this film, I disagree. If I am completely honest, anyone could have played the role. Also, and I don’t mean to sound harsh on her, but I feel Berg may have got her in almost as a selling point for the film because she’s a big star in the music industry (as if casting Liam Neeson wouldn’t have been enough). Obviously, this is all my opinion and I don’t expect any of you to judge any film based on what I have said until you’ve seen it, but this is not a great film. It opens and closes well but the main crux of the film just seems to be a case of carnage for the sake of carnage (I think someone may have taken a page out of Michael Bay’s directing handbook).
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Surprisingly, in comparison to her debut film – this role is actually much smaller than that of PO Raikes. Usually, it’s the other way around. We don’t meet Bubble until an hour and 23 minutes into the film and I have to admit, her opening scene is definitely one for the boys as we are introduced to a rather scantily-clad Rihanna. Passed that scene, we don’t see her face again until she dies. Maybe it’s because it is just her voice for the majority of her part in this film, meaning she doesn’t have to act much, but this is definitely a better role of Rihanna’s than that of Cora Raikes.
Ocean’s 8
First things first, this film is nowhere near as good as its predecessors (by this I mean the Clooney films that this is a sequel too). However, I have to say that this may actually be Rihanna’s best role out of all three of these films. Alright, it’s not as big as her first but it’s also not as small as that of Bubble so may be she’s found her level? In my opinion, I still disagree with Peter Berg’s idea of her being a ‘great actress’ but I guess it’s a little hard to shine when you’re sharing the screen with people like Helena Bonham Carter and Cate Blanchett.
Honorary Mention
This was a hard part to write as Rihanna actually hasn’t had much acting work outside of the three films above. However, she was the voice of Gratuity ‘Tip’ Tucci in Home which so far is her only lead role, even though it is only her voice. She has also made a 55 minute long film with Donald Glover and Letitia Wright called Guava Island. As I had a little bit of spare time, I decided to watch this too and if I’m honest…find yourself an hour and give it a watch (if you have Amazon Prime that is) because it really is worth it. Rihanna’s role is small but her and Donald Glover work well together.
