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Rihanna Takes on ‘Psycho’ Role For ‘Bates Motel’: Can She Match These Scream Queens?

By Victoria Miller
Published on: 02:34 PST, Jul 23, 2016

Rihanna has landed a job that’s more about screaming than singing. The pop superstar will play Marion Crane, the role made famous by Janet Leigh in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 horror thriller Psycho, on the upcoming final season of Bates Motel. Rihanna made the announcement in a video played at the show’s Comic-Con San Diego panel, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Rihanna has very few acting credits on her resume, and the Bates role will mark the singer’s first-ever scripted television role. Rihanna got the attention of the A&E horror drama’s co-creator, Carlton Cuse, after she mentioned in a Vanity Fair cover story that she is a huge Bates Motel fan. Both Cuse and the official Bates Twitter account gave Rihanna a shout-out after the VF story published.

In a statement about the modern day Marion Crane, Cuse and fellow executive producer Kerry Ehrin said Rihanna was the perfect choice for the part.

“We wanted to thrust the iconic role into a contemporary spotlight and redefine it in a meaningful and exciting new way. We also heard Rihanna was a fan of the show, and we were huge fans of hers, so it was the perfect collision of creativity and fate.”

While Rihanna had small roles in the movie Battleship and the Annie remake, she has some very big shoes to fill as Marion Crane. Janet Leigh debuted the iconic role in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 movie Psycho, playing the ill-fated motel guest who is murdered in her shower by Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). The original shower scene, one of the most iconic movie scenes of all time, runs three minutes and it is known for its use of quick, extreme close up shots and screechy violin music. The original scene features more than 70 camera angles and a lot of screaming by Janet Leigh.

Cuse told EW fans shouldn’t expect the role to be exactly the way Leigh played it more than 50 years ago.

“We are going to meet Marion Crane, but what we don’t want to do is create the impression that we’re redoing the movie because we’re not at all. She’s a very different person in the movie and her story plays out in a different way.”

Still, comparisons are bound to be made, and Rihanna will be compared to more than just Janet Leigh, as many other stars have taken on the role of the famous Hitchcock character Marion Crane. In fact, just last fall, the late actress’ own daughter, Jamie Leigh Curtis, recreated her mom’s famous shower scene for an episode of Fox’s Scream Queens.

In addition, Scarlett Johansson recreated the famous scene when she played Leigh in the 2012 movie Hitchcock. In an interview with V magazine, Johansson explained how she prepared to recreate the famous movie scene.

“I just prepared myself to get very, very wet… They were concerned with modesty and all these things—but I don’t care about any of that stuff and Janet Leigh never did either. You have got to be brave, get into the shower, and face Anthony Hopkins as Hitchcock jabbing you in the face with a 12-inch kitchen knife. As much as Anthony Hopkins is a pussycat, he’s terrifying. Maybe I watched Silence of the Lambs too many times when I was a kid. Maybe I was having some flashbacks. So I didn’t need too much preparation for the scene.”

In addition, Anne Heche played Marion in a shot-for-shot remake of the scene in Gus Van Sant’s 1998 remake of the movie Psycho. (Warning: Video is graphic)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIy7K-8oEI4

As for Rihanna, after she shoots her Bates Motel scenes, she may want to take some advice from the original Marion Crane. In an interview with the New York Times, Janet Leigh said stopped taking showers after filming Psycho.

“I stopped taking showers and I take baths, only baths,” she said.

As for those times when a shower was the only option, Janet said she made sure the doors and windows of the house were locked.

“I leave the bathroom door open and shower curtain open,” she said. “I’m always facing the door, watching, no matter where the shower head is.”

Take a look at the video below to see Rihanna’s announcement about her Bates Motel role.

[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]

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