While they might be relative newcomers on the big screen, these two ladies are certainly used to the spotlight, which made casting them easy for director Peter Berg.
“Rihanna obviously has tremendous charisma,” says Berg, 48, “and Brooklyn is an all-American beauty who has something going on in between the ears. She’s a smart girl.”
Her second and third movies will both be released on the same day when “Battleship” and “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” premiere on May 18.
Berg was impressed by Decker.
“When a lot of other girls her age were doing God knows what, she married Andy Roddick and made a home for herself,” he said. “She’s a thinking woman who doesn’t take herself overly seriously and is determined to try and do what girls like Cameron Diaz and Charlize Theron have been able to do.”
As for Rihanna, 24, Berg jumped at the chance to be her first director, citing his work with Tim McGraw in “Friday Night Lights” as inspiration.
“She came in with just a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, flip flops, her hair back in a ponytail, no makeup, looking very real, and she just started improvising,” he said. “She had no entourage. She was very professional — first one to work every day, the last one to leave. That girl had such a great work ethic. I said to people, ‘If it was easy musically, there’d be a lot of Rihannas. There’s not.’”
There also aren’t a lot of board games turned into movies, but Berg is hoping his leading ladies make “Battleship” a success.
“If you have the opportunity to see these beautiful, smart, hot women on a ship, you should take advantage of it,” he said. “It’s amazing.”