Rihanna gets her “cora raikes” inspiration from real navy
Quote:
When Rihanna watches her debut performance on the big screen in the film Battleship, she has one woman in particular to thank for her stellar performance as tough Navy heroine Cora Raikes. Pretty Jacqueline Carrizosa, a 22 year-old former petty officer on the SS Ronald Reagan, is the inspiration behind the Umbrella singer’s character and was her confidente and adviser during filming in Hawaii. Weapons expert Jacqueline taught Rihanna how to fire powerful, automatic machine guns and walk, talk and breath like a sailor.
She even coached her in soccer and the pair became firm friends .The star paid tribute to her in a recent interview: “We had this navy officer on set. Her name is Jackie, she’s also in the Navy. I was playing what she really does in real life. She was all tatted (tattooed) up and I just looked at her and I was like, ‘You are Raikes,” she said.
The former US Navy officer who trained Rihanna ahead of her Battleship appearance has spoken about what it was like to work with the star.
Jackie Carrizosa, who spent a month teaching RiRi how to hold guns and talk like a Navy officer in order to convincingly play her character, has said that the singer was even tougher than her stunt double.
The 22-year-old was drafted in to help out on set after director Peter Berg spotted her playing football with the US Navy.
Jackie told The Sun: ‘We were on set from sunrise to sunset — Rihanna was really tough. She was way better than her stunt double. She’s not afraid to get bruised or cut.’
She added that Rihanna hugely enjoyed handling guns.Jackie said: ‘When it was time to shoot I told her not to be nervous and to have fun with it. When she finished she was grinning from ear to ear and said, ‘I see why you love this stuff’.’
‘I showed her how to hold the gun so she’d look a little more professional. And there is one scene where she was dragging one of the guys out and I helped her out with how to pick him up. ‘
Jackie admitted that since she doesn’t watch television she was only vaguely aware of Rihanna as a pop star before she met her, but that Berg persuaded her to join the film when he sent her a message after watching her play football.
Rihanna came to base her entire character on Jackie.
This was encouraged by director Peter, who was intrigued by Jackie’s tomboy personality, and willingness to throw herself into traditionally ‘male’ activities without holding back.
The Umbrella singer clearly became attached to her tutor, and has since said: ‘My character’s name is Raikes. She’s a weapons officer, she’s not afraid of anything.’
‘She loves weapons, she knows them — not only her weapons, but every other weapon on the ship.’
‘I watched her and really tried to get in her character. She’s fearless and she’s one of the boys and it’s really fun to explore that.’ Rihanna shared in an interview.
The singer certainly took Jackie’s sentiments to heart, and was even seen sporting a temporary gun tattoo during filming.
I'm just confused as to why the article felt it was necessary to mention that the woman is pretty. That's not an identifier or a title... This woman is so much more than that, and her being pretty has nothing to do with whether she was a good role model for Rihanna.
Good on Rihanna though! I'm looking forward to this movie
