Adam Driver’s latest film, Annette, hit US theatres this past weekend and with that came the news Rihanna was set to play a small part in the musical drama.
Annette tells the story of a stand-up comedian (Driver) who falls in love with a world-renowned opera singer (Marion Cotillard). The glamorous couple, who exist largely in the public eye, go on to have their first child, Annette – represented by a puppet.
According to director Leos Carax, Rihanna was supposed to feature directly opposite the puppet at one point in the film.
“It was a small part written specifically for her,” Carax told USA Today. “She was supposed to play Rihanna. When baby Annette becomes famous, there was a duet between the puppet and Rihanna. But then Rihanna feels upstaged by this baby.”
Early reports back in 2017, as sourced by Variety, noted Rihanna as being attached to the musical, however, a spokeswoman for the singer dismissed this. No reason was specified.
Carax continued on to say instead of replacing her role, the scene was cut entirely.
Annette premiered earlier this year at Cannes Film Festival where Carax won an award for Best Director. The film marked Carax’s English-language feature debut.
June saw the release of ‘We Love Each Other So Much’, a theatrical duet between Driver and Cotillard that sits on the Annette soundtrack. The entire film features original music from Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks.
Annette will hit UK theatres next month (September), exclusively. US viewers will be able to stream the film on Amazon Prime from August 20.
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