Avowed Sci Fi Geek Rihanna To Play Alien Stripper In ‘Valerian’

Rihanna is perhaps the unlikeliest of Trekkies, and though she didn’t land a role in Star Trek: Beyond to go with her soundtrack song, she’ll get her sci fi fix with a part in a different space epic. The singer co-stars in Luc Besson‘s upcoming Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, and now we know it’ll be as an alien stripper.

I chose her as an actress not as a singer and i was surprised with what a gifted actress she is! @rihanna #valerian https://t.co/s6ZMjkb637

— Luc Besson (@lucbesson) July 21, 2016

Besson was the mastermind behind The Fifth Element. This blockbuster is based on the French comic series Valérian and Laureline, and it stars Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne, but it’s the teaser clip revealing Rihanna’s role that sparked all the chatter at Comic Con. Here’s Vulture’s account of it:

“DeHaan knows exactly what he wants, zeroing in on a brothel run by Ethan Hawke, who swans toward DeHaan adorned in fluorescent fabrics and a Jane Child nose-ring chain…Hawke asks DeHaan what kind of girl he’s in the mood for. ‘Retro,’ says DeHaan, and fortunately, Hawke has just the thing: He sits the spaceman down for a private show as a bowler-clad performer appears on stage, straddling a chair.

The woman turns to the camera, and thank the heavens above, it’s fucking Rihanna.

(Sexy space Rihanna, y’all!)”

Of course, the clip cut out just as Rih was about to start dancing, but according to her co-star, what ensues is “jaw-dropping.”