Smurf better have her money. Rihanna made a surprise appearance at CinemaCon 2023 to announce her first film role in nearly five years: Smurfette in Paramount and Nickelodeon’s upcoming animated Smurfs movie. Clad, aptly, in faded blue, Rihanna revealed she was originally gunning for the role of Papa Smurf, “but it didn’t work out.†So she settled for Smurfette, whom she calls “a blue badass.†(She’s not the first musician to play the role; that would be Katy Perry.) What’s more, Rihanna will be producing the movie — and writing and recording original songs for it. In other words, the odds of getting some Smurf songs from Rihanna just got a lot higher than R9. After she returned to music with two songs for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and was nominated for an Oscar in the process, Rihanna had a simpler motivation for this gig. “I hope this gives me a little bit of cool points with my kids someday,†she said, currently pregnant with her second child after giving birth to a son last spring. The Navy will have to wait.
Reporting by Chris Lee.