In a wild film, this was definitely one of the more memorable moments
Michael Cera really ‘slapped Rihanna on her a**’ in one of the iconic scenes from This is The End – but only because they’d made a deal.
It’s safe to say that 2013 film from the unique minds of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg was one of the wilder films of the year.
The movie follows a load of celebrities dealing with the end of the world after they’ve attended an A-list party.
The main cast is made up of Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, and Jonah Hill, but also features a number of celebrity cameos, with everyone in the film playing themselves, or a fictionalised version at least.
One of those that has a role in the film is pop superstar Rihanna, and there was one scene involving Michael Cera that has fans could’t believe.
Whilst almost all of the cast are playing versions of themselves, Cera couldn’t be further from his real-world persona in This is The End.
In the comedy, he is a drug-loving sex pest, and this leads to a hilarious interaction with Rihanna when he slaps her on the derriere.
She promptly turns around and gives him an almighty smack.
If you think the scene looks pretty realistic, well, that’s because both Cera and Rihanna did actually hit each other, according to Rogen. There were no fake slaps here.
Speaking to Sway’s Universe, Rogen revealed the pair had made a deal ahead of filming.
He said: “In the script, Michael Cera slaps Rihanna’s ass and she doesn’t hit him back.
“But he asked her, ‘Can I slap your ass for real?’ And she said, ‘You can slap my ass for real if I can slap you back in the face for real.'”
Rogen said they ended up having to shoot the scene “three or four times”, and that the Umbrella singer had “smacked the f**k” out of Cera by the time they finished.
Cera himself has spoken about the iconic scene, saying he was more than happy to have one of the world’s most famous faces smack him for the sake of good cinema.
He told GQ: “Yeah, I mean she definitely hit me, but I really, I wanted that, you know?
“I mean, I think it’s a lot funnier and a lot more convincing… a fake slap just doesn’t look good.”
Speaking about the slap itself, he said: “She really sent me flying, and it was great.
“And now it’s on film forever, this pain that I experienced.”
The take that was used in the final cut is 100 per cent real as well, with Rogen saying they “didn’t add any sound or anything.”
In fact, it was such a clean connection that Cera had to have a lie down to recover.
“She cupped his ear and actually whacked out his equilibrium and he had to go lay down in his trailer for around half an hour,” Rogen said. “That’s the take we used in the movie.”
