Rita Ora is a woman of many talents, but that doesn't mean everything has always gone smoothly for the singer-actress.
The Fifty Shades of Grey actress tells InStyle UK that she has faced rejection many times, but uses the failures to help her work harder rather than letting them put her down.
"I've been told 'no' so many times in my career," she tells the magazine. "It doesn't mean it's over...I can remember every single 'no' I've been told in my life. They do not leave my brain. But they build you up."
Her built-up confidence led her to contact Fifty Shades of Grey director Sam Taylor-Johnson regarding possibilities for the film's soundtrack. Their conversation, as it would turn out, turned the director convincing Ora to try out for the movie as an actress instead of a singer for the soundtrack! Having only "done a bit of acting," Ora auditioned but didn't think it would pan out.
"I said I'd love to involved as I was such a fan of the book," she explains. "And then Sam said, 'Well, why don't you audition?' And I said, 'Sure…I've got a few song ideas, I could send them over…' and she said, 'No, why don't you audition for the movie?'"
LOL! The misunderstanding obviously worked in her favor, and she ended up working hard for her "blink and you'll miss it role."
"And I was like, 'What?, I've done a bit of acting, but honestly didn't expect to be put into that role," she continues. "I thought, what have I got to lose? I auditioned like everybody else – there were a lot of other people in the frame. I didn't get any special treatment. I perfected my American accent, one thing led to another, and I got it."
But when it came time for the movie to hit the big screen, many noticed that Ora has about only four lines even though she had spent a fair amount of time promoting her role.
She tweeted, "@FiftyShades London premiere tomorrow! It's a blink and you'll miss it role, but I'm so happy to be part of it!"
Even though she was honest about her assessment (it really was quick), it didn't stop people from mocking her on Twitter.
"Rita Ora has spent the last year promoting her role in 50 SHADES OF GREY. Thrillingly, she has a literal second and a half of screen time," Kyle Buchanan posted on Twitter.
To read the feature in full, see the April issue of British InStyle!