Peter Berg had a problem. He was coming off the back of Hancock, which did huge numbers, but now he was tasked with making a movie based on a board game where people sit in silence and say things like "B-4." Not exactly Mad Max. To make it work, Universal Pictures threw $200 million at the screen, hoping a mix of a pop superstar, an indy darling, and Liam Neeson could sell the idea of aliens fighting the U.S. Navy. Looking back, the cast of the movie Battleship is actually a weirdly fascinating time capsule of 2012 Hollywood.
It’s a bizarre lineup. You have Taylor Kitsch, who the industry was desperately trying to turn into the next Brad Pitt after his success in Friday Night Lights. Then you have Rihanna, making her actual acting debut during the peak of her "Talk That Talk" era. Toss in Alexander Skarsgård, fresh off of True Blood fame, and you get a cocktail of talent that, on paper, should have been a slam dunk. But as we know, the box office had other plans.
Taylor Kitsch and the Curse of 2012
If you were a casting director in 2011, you probably had Taylor Kitsch’s headshot on your desk. The guy was everywhere. He played Alex Hopper in Battleship, a classic "rebel who finds his way" character who starts the movie breaking into a convenience store to get a chicken burrito and ends it saving the planet. Kitsch had the look. He had the charisma. But 2012 was a brutal year for him. Between John Carter and Battleship, he became the face of two of the most expensive "underperformers" in cinema history.
It wasn't really his fault. Honestly, Kitsch gives a solid performance as Hopper. He plays the transition from a lazy screw-up to a Lieutenant Commander with enough earnestness to make you forget the plot is basically a giant game of "Whack-a-Mole" with peg-shaped missiles. He’s the anchor of the film, and his chemistry with the veteran sailors on the USS Missouri—real veterans, by the way—is one of the few parts of the movie that feels grounded.
Rihanna: From the Stage to the Gun Deck
People forget how much of a risk it was putting Rihanna in this. Usually, when a singer joins a massive blockbuster, they’re playing a version of themselves or a love interest. Rihanna didn't do that. She played Petty Officer Cora Raikes, a weapons specialist who spent most of the movie sweaty, wearing a ball cap, and screaming at giant alien machines.
It worked. Sorta.
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She wasn't there to be a "Bond Girl." She was there to work. Critics at the time were surprisingly kind to her, mostly because she didn't try to overact. She hit her marks, looked believable behind a .50 caliber machine gun, and provided the movie with its biggest marketing hook. It’s funny looking back now—Rihanna is a billionaire mogul today, but in 2012, she was just another member of the cast of the movie Battleship trying to prove she could hold her own against CGI water splashes.
The Supporting Players: Skarsgård and Neeson
Alexander Skarsgård played Stone Hopper, the "perfect" older brother. It’s a bit of a thankless role because, without spoiling a decade-old movie, he isn't around for the whole ride. But Skarsgård brings that stoic, Swedish intensity that made him a star. He provides the emotional stakes for Taylor Kitsch’s character development.
Then there’s Liam Neeson.
Neeson plays Admiral Terrance Shane. Honestly? He’s barely in the movie. He shows up at the beginning to look disappointed in Alex Hopper and appears at the end to give out medals. He was likely on set for about four days. But having "Liam Neeson" on the poster adds immediate gravitas to a movie that features a scene where a ship drifts like a Honda Civic in Fast and Furious. He’s the "Adult in the Room."
The Real Stars: The USS Missouri and the Vets
One thing Peter Berg got absolutely right was the use of the USS Missouri (BB-63). In the final act, the "main" cast has to team up with a group of retired WWII veterans to get the old "Mighty Mo" back into action. What most people don't realize is that many of the extras in those scenes were actual Navy veterans.
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Colonel Gregory D. Gadson, who plays Lieutenant Colonel Mick Canales, is a real-life U.S. Army veteran and bilateral above-the-knee amputee. His performance is incredibly raw. He isn't a professional actor, and you can tell in the best way possible. His scenes with Brooklyn Decker—who plays Samantha Shane, the physical therapist and Admiral’s daughter—offer a weirdly touching subplot about recovery and resilience that feels like it belongs in a much more serious film.
Brooklyn Decker herself had a tough job. Being the "girl on land" in a movie that takes place almost entirely at sea is a lonely gig. She spends the movie hiking through the mountains of Oahu with Gadson, trying to stop the aliens from using a communications array. It’s a standard B-plot, but she carries it well enough that you don't find yourself checking your watch until the ships start shooting again.
Why the Ensemble Didn't Launch a Sequel
So, if you have this diverse, high-energy cast, why did Battleship sink?
- The Budget: You cannot spend $209 million on a movie about a board game and expect to make a 3x return easily.
- The Comparison: It came out the same year as The Avengers. You can't compete with the birth of the MCU.
- The Concept: People just couldn't get past the "Peg" missiles. Even though the movie tried to explain them as "kinetic energy weapons," the audience just saw plastic toys from their childhood.
The cast of the movie Battleship actually did their jobs. Tadanobu Asano, who played Captain Nagata, was a brilliant foil for Kitsch. Their rivalry-turned-friendship is the best-written part of the script. Asano is a legend in Japan, and seeing him lead a US blockbuster was a big deal for international markets, even if the US domestic audience didn't quite appreciate the nuance.
The Legacy of the Battleship Cast
Looking at where they are now is wild. Jesse Plemons was in this! He played Jimmy "Ordy" Ord. Back then, he was just "that guy from Breaking Bad or Friday Night Lights." Today, he’s an Academy Award nominee and one of the most respected actors in the world. He has maybe ten minutes of screen time, but he’s there, being Jesse Plemons.
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Rami Malek is in this movie too. Blink and you’ll miss him. He’s a watch officer on the USS Ronald Reagan. This was years before Mr. Robot or his Oscar win for Bohemian Rhapsody. The cast of the movie Battleship is basically a "Who's Who" of future superstars who were just trying to get a paycheck in a summer tentpole.
The movie has found a second life on streaming. On Netflix or Max, it’s a great "laundry movie"—something you can put on while you fold clothes. It’s loud, it’s colorful, and the cast is much better than the material they were given. They sold the hell out of it.
Actionable Takeaways for Movie Buffs
If you’re going back to rewatch this or checking it out for the first time because you saw a clip on TikTok, keep these things in mind:
- Watch Jesse Plemons and Rami Malek: It is hilarious to see these high-level dramatic actors playing "Standard Sailor #2" and "Tech Guy."
- Look for the Real Vets: The scene on the USS Missouri where the old-timers help the young kids is genuinely respectful to naval history. It was filmed on the actual ship in Pearl Harbor.
- Ignore the Physics: Don't try to understand how a 45,000-ton battleship can "drift." Just enjoy the sound design. The sound of the 16-inch guns firing is one of the best audio experiences in 2010s cinema.
- Appreciate the Practical Effects: While there is a ton of CGI, the production built massive gimbal sets to simulate the rocking of the ships. The actors are actually stumbling around on moving floors, which adds a layer of realism to their performances.
The cast of the movie Battleship proved that even if a concept is a bit ridiculous, good actors can make it watchable. They took a script about aliens hating radar and turned it into a cult classic that people still talk about fourteen years later. It didn't start a franchise, but it gave us a glimpse of some of the biggest stars of the next decade before they hit the big time.
Go find the scene where they use the NOAA buoys to track the alien ships. It’s the most "Board Game" moment in the film and, honestly, it's pretty clever. That’s the real charm of this movie—it knows it's a bit silly, and the cast is 100% in on the joke.
Next Steps for Research:
To get the most out of your Battleship deep dive, look up the "Making Of" featurettes specifically regarding the USS Missouri. Seeing how the production team worked with the Pearl Harbor Memorial to film on the actual historic vessel provides a lot of context for why the final act feels so different from the rest of the movie. You can also track the career trajectories of the "bridge crew" extras, many of whom have popped up in Peter Berg's later, more serious military films like Lone Survivor.