In the April issue of Vogue Magazine, director Peter Berg talks about Rihanna, who stars in his upcoming movie, Battleship. The director says he picked Rihanna for the role of naval officer Cora Raikes because he was looking for an actress who could play “tough, urban, scrappy, funny,” and for some reason she popped into his head. He said once he meet the singer whose video persona intrigued him, he was amazed to find out that Rihanna wasn’t such a badass after all.
Berg says, “When you meet her there’s absolutely no resemblance to that sexy super diva that you see in the videos. It’s a complete act, in my opinion. I am not saying she’s not a very sexy girl, but there’s so much more to her than that. She is clearly playing around with a character.”
“Rihanna has a very strong presence – people are going to be surprised. Let’s put it this way: She kicks ass. She had to get into an eighteen-foot inflatable raft and sit behind a machine gun for six hours at a time in seven-foot swells.” The director added, “We had rescue swimmers on Jet Skis and armed shark spotters because there were quite a few sharks out there.”
