Meet the Badass Naval Officer Behind Rihanna’s ‘Battleship’ Character

Director Peter Berg was doing research on the Navy for 'Battleship' when he spotted a beautiful, young female officer playing football - and holding her own - with the men. She was wearing t-shirt from the punk band The Hoods and Berg starting taking shots with his camera, thinking her look would be perfect for the female character in the film, Raikes.

Later, Berg would track down the officer - Jackie Carrizosa, a Gunner's Mate - via email and formally invite her to work with star Rihanna as a Military Tech, Weapons Officer Expert. Did we mention she's beautiful?

Carrizosa, now out of the Navy and working at a machine gun ranch in Las Vegas (natch),  was both the visual inspiration for Rihanna's character as well as working with the singer on the proper mechanics of holding and firing an automatic weapon. Says Rihanna:

"We had this badass chick on set, her name is Jackie, she was also in the Navy. I was playing what she does in real life. She was all tattooed up and I just looked at her and I was like, 'You are Raikes.' I watched her and really tried to get in her character"

While 'Battleship' takes place in an entirely unbelievable situation, it was important for Berg to have the characters feel believable. And while you might not think there are that many badass, sexy girls in the Navy, you'd be wrong. Just check out some of Carrizosa's,uh, other work below.

'Battleship' hits theaters on May