Rihanna is a woman who wears many hats and although her career began as a recording artist, she has branched into the worlds of fashion, entrepreneurship, and even film. With all of her acting roles, did she appear in Maleficent 2?
Rihanna did not appear in the sequel film Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. The film starred Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning. Since Rihanna has been on a music career hiatus, the movie does not feature any of her music either. Rihanna has made appearances in other films all starting with a cameo in Bring It On: All or Nothing in 2006.
Scroll down to read more about how Rihanna’s acting career began and what films she has had significant roles.
Rihanna’s Cameos
Rihanna’s first ever cameo was back in 2006 for the movie Bring It On: All or Nothing. In the film, she plays herself and most of the plot of the film revolves around a competition that Rihanna announces.
The competition invites high school cheerleaders to compete for the chance to appear as background dancers in her music video. Rihanna then judges the competition and the end of the film features her singing Pon de Replay with a cheer squad performing in the background.
Rihanna also appeared as herself in the comedy horror film This Is the End by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. There were so many celebrity cameos in this film because the entire comedy portion of the film was the idea that they would all play stereotypes of themselves.
Rihanna’s cameo involved her singing a song called Take Your Panties Off with Craig Robinson. She can also be seen slapping Michael Cera in the face after he slaps her butt.
Rihanna’s First Big Role
In the 2012 film Battleship, Rihanna had her first silverscreen role that wasn’t a cameo. In the science fiction film, she played Petty Officer Cora Raikes who is a weapons specialist. The movie was loosely based off of the board game of the same name. However, in this film the crew of the US Pacific Navy fleet are battling an extraterrestrial naval fleet. Rihanna’s character is aboard the USS John Paul Jones, which is actually a naval ship in real life.
For the role, Rihanna trained with the US Navy. She also had one of only two major female roles in the entire film. The other female role was played by Brooklyn Decker as Samantha Shane, a physical therapist for the ship.
Other Big Roles
Landing the role in Battleship helped to lead Riri to other big roles in the film industry. She was one of the lead voices in the 2015 children’s movie, Home. In this film, she voiced the young girl Tip who has befriended the alien Oh. Oh was voiced by the actor most famous for his role as Sheldon Cooper on Big Bang Theory, Jim Parsons. Before her role in Home, Riri also had a minor role in the 2014 adaptation of Annie. In this film, she played the role of the Moon Goddess.
Her roles on the big screen have continued to get bigger. One of her largest roles to date was in the 2017 film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Rihanna plays a shapeshifting alien by the name of Bubble. Her character is called a Glampod entertainer in the film, but this is just the science fiction world’s term for an exotic dancer. Rihanna’s very first appearance in the film is when she performs for Major Valerian, played by Dane DeHaan. The award-winning actor Ethan Hawke also appears in this scene as Bubble’s handler, Jolly the Pimp.
You can watch the full dance scene from Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets by watching the video below.
Other than the films listed above, Rihanna had a major role in Ocean’s 8. In this spinoff, Rihanna stars alongside Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Anne Hathaway, Awkwafina, and Helena Bonham Carter.