Rihanna made a surprise appearance at CinemaCon on Thursday with some even more surprising news – she’s set to lend her voice to a brand new Smurfs film.
The chart-topping singer and beauty entrepreneur will play Smurfette in a new live-action/animation hybrid, she confirmed on stage at the event.
Speaking about voicing the “little blue badass”, Rihanna – who is currently expecting her second child – told the audience she was excited as the role allowed her to “show up in my PJs in my third trimester”.
“I hope this gives me cool points with my kids one day,” she said, also joking: “I tried to get the Papa Smurf part, but it didn’t work out.”
The news quickly made its way online, and fans didn’t quite know what to make of it:
Of course, plenty of Rihanna’s devotees were quick to make the obvious joke that this could point to yet more delays to her new music – but there is apparently a silver lining.
As well as voicing Smurfette, RiRi will be producing the film, and will write and perform original music for it.
So at least we know we’ll be getting some new Rihanna music at some point before this Smurfs film in 2025… even if it is skewed through a Smurfette lens.
While best known for her musical output and cosmetics line, Rihanna has tried her hand at acting several times in the past, including the board game adaptation Battleship, the animated adventure Home and the star-studded heist film Ocean’s 8.
In recent history, Smurfette has been voiced by pop singers Demi Lovato and Katy Perry, the latter of whom is a friend of Rihanna’s.