Rihanna Got Part In Battleship Thanks To Chris Brown Interview, Says Director

18 May 2012, 09:16 | Updated: 18 May 2012, 09:20

The 'We Found Love' singer was so "articulate" and "poised" in her Diane Sawyer interview it caught the attention of Peter Berg.

Director of the blockbuster movie Battleship, Peter Berg, has confessed that he was convinced to offer Rihanna a role in the film after watching an interview she conducted following her incident in 2009 by Chris Brown.

The 'You Da One' star was apparently so "articulate" and handled herself "very well" it made Peter "intrigued" as he saw the singer in a completely different light.

"I'd obviously seen [Rihanna's] videos and was a fan of hers. The videos were really sexy and obviously, you know, very entertaining to say the least," he confessed to Entertainment Weekly.

"But what first caught my eye about Rihanna was an interview she did with Diane Sawyer after the Chris Brown incident, where she was very articulate, very poised, obviously a smart girl who talked about a very traumatic experience.

"That was a legitimate, violent, real experience that would traumatise anyone. I thought she handled herself very well. I was intrigued. That was the first time I really remember Rihanna kind of coming on my radar, someone that was more than just kind of a sexy girl that sang hip-hop songs," he professed.

The director - who has previously worked on Hancock and The Kingdom - revealed that he has always been a fan of musicians turning to acting as he likes to reinvent stars.

"So as I was getting ready to cast, I was thinking about Rihanna. I've been a big believer in musicians turned actor," he added. "I love finding off-beat casting and finding someone you know in one way and you reinvent them in another way. I like doing that as a director."

Rihanna's part in Battleship is her first role in a film and the star told Capital that she has plans to continue acting and wants to star in a comedy with Seth Rogen as her next feature.