rectitude winterize: Rihanna 'Intimidated' By 'Battleship' Role

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Rihanna 'Intimidated' By 'Battleship' Role

'I was walking into this as a complete amateur,' singer reveals in 'MTV First: Battleship.'
By Fallon Prinzivalli, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Rihanna
Photo: MTV News

As Rihanna begins her foray into the film industry, she's quickly becoming the queen of pop culture. She's a musical icon with millions of fans who worship her singing abilities and can't wait to see her acting debut in Peter Berg's "Battleship." But her devotees aren't the only ones itching to see what the musician has up her sleeve. During "MTV First: Battleship," her co-star Taylor Kitsch said he was excited to see her take on the role.

"Yeah, there's an excitement behind [working with Rihanna]. I was excited to see what you were going to do with [the part]," Kitsch said to the singer.

Rihanna chimed in, "I'll answer this, because it's probably uncomfortable for them to say no, but I was the one that was intimidated."

Wait, what? It's hard to imagine the singer intimidated by anything. With songs like "Rockstar 101" and "Who's That Chick?" and equally fiery music videos, Rihanna gives off a fierce persona and owns any project that comes her way. But she revealed that despite her ever-present nerves, she learned from the cast — particularly Kitsch, who offered advice as they worked on scenes.

"You know, we have a mutual respect for each other's industry," she said. "I was walking into this as an amateur — a complete amateur. I didn't know anything and I had a good team to learn from. I watched them, and especially Taylor, 'cause we did a lot of scenes together and he would always offer me advice."

And as for Alexander Skarsgård, Brooklyn Decker and Kitsch having nerves around the successful chart-topper, Rihanna waves it off.

"There was nothing for them to be intimidated about. I was the wreck. I was a wreck, just like, scared to sh--," she said. "Especially when Liam Neeson showed up to set."

Let's see, Neeson has voiced an all-powerful lion for "Narnia," played Jean Valjean in "Les Misérables," was a Jedi Master in the "Star Wars" prequels and kicked some serious ass as he raced around Europe to save his daughter from sex trafficking in "Taken." Why would she ever be intimidated?

"He was intimidated by me," Rihanna joked.

Check out everything we've got on "Battleship."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Related Videos