Rihanna Agreed to Let This Actor Slap Her Butt on Camera on 1 Condition

Rihanna is a Grammy-winning singer. But she’s also been slowly easing her way into Hollywood. In fact, even Oscar winner Charlize Theron wants to work with her. While those two ladies figure out the details, it’s worth shedding a light on a surprising real-life story behind one of the singer’s first big-screen appearances. Fans won’t be disappointed with how Rihanna handled a scene in which she gets her butt slapped on screen.

Rihanna has been slowly building a movie career

Anyone who’s seen a Rihanna music video knows the singer has a ton of charisma. But she hasn’t made the mistake of leaping head-first into acting. Rather, Rihanna has taken her time popping up on both the big and small screens. In the mid-2000s, she made cameos as herself on TV’s Las Vegas and All My Children as well as the direct-to-DVD movie Bring It On: All or Nothing. But in 2012, she took her first real acting gig.

Battleship wasn’t exactly the blockbuster hit anyone hoped it would be. Still, Rihanna has persisted with supporting roles in Ocean’s 8 and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. She even lent her (speaking) voice to the hit animated film Home in 2015. But one of Rihanna’s most memorable movie moments comes from another appearance she made in a popular cameo. And yes, she was playing herself at the time.

The singer made a memorable cameo in ‘This Is the End’

The 2013 comedy This Is the End features cameos from stars like Mindy Kaling, Paul Rudd, and Kevin Hart. Most of these actors appeared with co-director Seth Rogen in other movies, and they all play themselves here. Yet, Rihanna’s appearance is among the most unexpected, perhaps only surpassed by Emma Watson. The singer pops up in a party scene in which Michael Cera slaps her butt, a moment the actor really went for.

But according to GQ, Cera’s decision to do so came at a price. After he asked the singer for permission to commit to the moment, she agreed but only if she could respond back in kind. And Rihanna apparently slapped back way harder, even causing a “high-pitched tone ringing” in Cera’s ear. Goldberg even remarked he had “never seen a person get slapped that hard in real life.” Nevertheless, the moment worked on screen.

Rihanna most recently appeared opposite Donald Glover

For someone with so few big-screen appearances behind her, Rihanna certainly seems poised to make a greater impact on Hollywood. She’s come a long way from making cameos as herself, with Ocean’s 8 marking her most high-profile role yet. And in 2019, she took another big step in her acting career.

That year, Rihanna co-starred with Donald Glover in an Amazon Studios production called Guava Island. Coming in at just under an hour in length, the film gained mostly positive reviews. And since it positions Rihanna as the female lead, its release left fans wondering how her acting career would progress next.