Rihanna could be great actress, says Battleship director

Rihanna plays a US Navy weapons officer in Battleship

Newsbeat has been given an exclusive look at Rihanna's first major appearance on the big screen.

The singer is set to play a US Navy weapons officer in the film Battleship, based on the popular board game of the same name.

The movie is directed by Peter Berg, the man behind the 2008 film Hancock starring Will Smith and Charlize Theron.

He says Rihanna has a big future on the big screen.

"I've worked with musicians before and I always expected there was a great actress in Rihanna," he said. "That's just from watching her intensity and how hot she is in her music videos."

Peter Berg, 49, spent four months with the star filming near Hawaii.

"For anyone that's been on a music video set, it's not so easy to do sexy," he said. "If it was, there would be a lot more Rihannas."

The 23-year-old singer recently released Talk That Talk, her sixth studio album, and is reported to have sold more than 60 million albums worldwide.

Director of Battleship, Peter Berg, says Rihanna could have a film career

"Rihanna lived in this small really unglamorous hotel room for four months," he said. "It was really hot, there was nothing but really bad fried food."

Despite being a global pop icon, Peter Berg says there were no diva-style demands from the star.

"She had no entourage, she shared the same little trailer as everyone else did."

Battleship also stars Liam Neeson and Taylor Kitsch.

Peter Berg hasn't ruled out a sequel providing it does well at the box office.

As for Rihanna's career in Hollywood, the director said: "Battleship is a small role but she does a great job in it.

"If she wants to be a huge movie star then in a year you'll be sitting here with her talking about whatever her next film is."

Rihanna has previously appeared in 2006 film Bring It On: All or Nothing, which went straight to DVD.

Battleship is set for release in April 2012.