Rita Ora
Rita Ora is an actor, born 1990.
Ora was born in Pristina and made her name in British pop. She signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation label in 2008, broke through on DJ Fresh's 2012 single Hot Right Now, and released her debut album Ora the same year: a UK number one that produced the chart-topping singles R.I.P. and How We Do (Party). Everything on screen comes after that, and most of it is shaped by it.
The acting has been a sideline pursued steadily rather than a second career pursued hard. She played Mia Grey across all three Fifty Shades films, which put her in front of an enormous audience with very little to do. Southpaw and Pokemon Detective Pikachu are similar: real films, small parts. Twist gave her more room as Dodge in a modern Oliver Twist, and Descendants: The Rise of Red finally cast her in the place where her actual skills live, as a Queen of Hearts who gets to sing, with a sequel following.
She is arguably more comfortable as herself. She has judged The X Factor, coached on The Voice UK, sat on the Masked Singer panel, and played a version of herself in Too Much. Television presenting suits her: quick, warm, unbothered, and not pretending to be anyone else.
Movies (12)
- Descendants: Wicked Wonderland (2026)
- Fifty Shades Freed (2018)
- Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)
- Fifty Shades Darker (2017)
- Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024)
- Southpaw (2015)
- Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019)
- Tin Soldier (2025)
- Descendants/ZOMBIES Worlds Collide - Concert Special (2026)
- Twist (2021)
- Wonderwell (2023)
- Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic (2023)
TV (13)
- The Masked Singer (2019)
- Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight (2022)
- BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge (2010)
- The X Factor (2004)
- MTV Europe Music Awards (1994)
- The Voice (2012)
- The Voice UK (2012)
- Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest (1972)
- Too Much (2025)
- That's My Jam (2021)
- Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge (2022)
- The Masked Singer (2020)
- MTV World Stage (2009)
Music (1)
Where to start with Rita Ora
If you watch one thing here, make it Descendants: The Rise of Red. It is the one role that uses what she is genuinely good at, performing, rather than asking her to disappear into a supporting part, and she is clearly enjoying playing a villain.
Twist is next if you want to see her carry scenes in a straight film. The Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy is where most people have technically seen her, though Mia Grey barely registers, and Pokémon Detective Pikachu and Southpaw are the same story: recognisable films, minor roles.
For the version of her that most people actually enjoy, The Masked Singer and The Voice UK have far more of her personality per minute than the films do.
The film roles
The acting career is mostly franchise supporting parts. The Fifty Shades films give her Christian Grey's sister across all three, and Southpaw is the only one of them that asks for anything dramatic.
The television work
Presenting and judging has become the larger half of the career. The Voice UK and The Masked Singer are the long-running ones, and The X Factor is where she started, as a mentor rather than a contestant.
The family and franchise work
The Disney and family end, which is now where most of the on-screen work sits. Descendants: The Rise of Red is the biggest of them, and Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight is the animation.