Is Rihanna taking cues from Lady Gaga by starring in a hit television series? The "Work" singer announced that she's joining the cast of suspense-thriller "Bates Motel" Season 5.
Rihanna made the big reveal via a video presented at San Diego Comic Con 2016. "I am about to check into the Bates Motel very soon," RiRi addressed the crowd, as quoted by Us Magazine. "Guess what else? Guess who's playing Marion! Yes, so all you Comic-Con fans, all you Bates Motel fans, stay tuned!"
Marion Crane was played by Janet Leigh in the original 1959 Alfred Hitchcock film "Psycho." The character gained public notoriety for the now iconic shower scene, in which, she was stabbed to death. Rihanna will appear in several episodes in Season 5.
"We wanted to thrust the iconic role into a contemporary spotlight and redefine it in a meaningful and exciting new way," executive producers Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin stated, according to The Hollywood Reporter. They added that Rihanna was also a big fan of the show and that they were a big fan of hers, so there is the "perfect collision of creativity and fate."
Although this is not Rihanna's first acting gig, it is her first time to act in a TV role.
Following the death of Norma Bates (Vera Farmiga) in "Bates Motel" Season 4, the story moves forward with Norman (Freddie Highmore) growing closer to a psycho that he has become in the original movie.
Among other things, Farmiga will still appear in "Bates Motel" Season 5 as Norma. It is presumed that she will breathe life into the "Mother" figure Norman has wrapped around his head. Ehrin teased at Comic Con that viewers will get to "know her more intimately." "Bates Motel" Season 5 may even present some racy scenes between Farmiga and Highmore, which were shot in past seasons but never made it on air.
Meanwhile, Max Thieriot will make his directorial debut, while Highmore will co-write the second episode of "Bates Motel" Season 5 with Cuse and Ehrin. Production for the fifth and final season of "Bates Motel" will begin in fall.
"Bates Motel" Season 5 is expected to return in 2017.