Rihanna plays Bubble, an entertainer who is sensitive about her art, and builds a close bond with Valerian, played by Dane DeHaan.
"It was so much fun for me to go from look to look. There were a lot of makeup changes and hair changes. The Cleopatra look took the longest because there was so much detail, and I had to wear waterproof makeup. But my favourite look was the nurse outfit, which was all latex and had me sweating," Rihanna said in a statement.
"He'd check my makeup, tell me what he thought about each outfit and ask me how I felt. If I didn't like something and wanted to change it, he was open to that because he wanted me to love Bubble and to own her.
"I'm new to movies, so Luc was very patient and I appreciated that. He knows exactly how to get the performance he wants out of you," she said.
Also featuring Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne, "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets", is releasing on July 28.