Alexander Skarsgard: Rihanna is great actress

The two stars appear alongside each other in new movie Battleship, which is based on the classic board game where players try to sink their opponents’ ships. Alexander will play Navy commander Stone Hopper, and Rihanna a character called Raikes.

It’s the singer’s first turn on the big screen, although she has wanted to try her hand at acting for some time. Alexander says she could have a long career in the industry as she has tried so hard to make the part her own.

“This is her first movie but she's great, she's really, really good in it and her working… She's got a crazy schedule. She's really diligent and I'm impressed,” he told GQ. “We would work and then she'd fly to LA to perform at the MTV Music Awards and then fly back red eye, land, go straight to set, work all day. No complaints, nothing. She's really solid.”

Earlier this month, Rihanna said she was thoroughly enjoying shooting the movie. She heaped praise on Alexander, saying he was “laid back” and easy to work with.

She also expressed amazement at his height, saying she had no idea he was so tall until she met him. Alexander, who is 6ft 4ins, admits his lengthy body often causes problems at work as he ends up towering over his co-stars.

“My height can be a problem. A lot of directors and photographers are sometimes not happy because I'm pretty tall and especially if I work with short actors the difference can be pretty massive,” he laughed. “That's definitely happened before. We use apple boxes for the other actors so they get up a bit.”