News Americas, LOS ANGELES, CA, Fri. Mar. 20, 2015: What glass ceiling? Bajan pop star turned actress Rihanna is breaking through the barriers and creating history.
Not only is she the first woman to be featured on the cover of a GQ “Men of the Year” issue; the most streamed female artist in the world on Spotify, the first artist to reach 6 billion views of Vevo and potentially the first black woman to be the face of Christian Dior but now she is the first black lead of a 3-D computer-animated buddy comedy film.
Rihanna is now the voice Gratuity “Tip” Tucci, a savvy curly-haired youngster who ends up with an alien on the run from his own people who lands on Earth. The alien makes friends with the adventurous Gratuity, who is on a quest of her own in “Home,” a DreamWorks Animation film.
The film hits theaters on March 27 and also includes the voices of Jennifer Lopez, Steve Martin, and Jim Parsons. It is based on Adam Rex’s 2007 children’s book The True Meaning of Smekday.
The movie soundtrack’s lead single is also by Rihanna and is titled “Towards the Sun.”
“Tip” is DreamWorks Animation’s third female protagonist and their film “Kung Fu Panda 2,” directed by Korean-American Jennifer Yuh Nelson, was a smash hit in the U.S. China, and South East Asia.
In speaking about the character, Rihanna explained: “I tried to give her a little bit of my personality. A little sweet, a little innocent, but she is sassy and she is vibrant, and that’s what I think really connects with the fans. They kinda identify with her. They feel like they recognize her. She’s a little familiar and even the accent comes out a lot of the time as well.”
When asked what place she considers to be home, Rihanna replied, “Barbados will always feel like home to me, of course. But I pretty much feel like anywhere I could fall asleep.”
