Cate Blanchett got “really absorbed” in Borderlands to prepare for her role as Lilith in the upcoming movie.
When getting ready for a part in the live-action adaptation of a video game franchise, each actor has their own approach to immersing themselves in the content they will bring to life in another medium. While some, like Pedro Pascal taking on the role of Joel Miller in HBO’s The Last of Us, choose not to play the games first, others, like Cate Blanchett, opt for a different route when taking on the central role in Lionsgate’s upcoming Borderlands film, as revealed in a recent interview with Empire.
“My thumbs can barely control a phone, but I bought a PS5 and we played each other,” Blanchett shared during the interview, mentioning her husband as her gaming partner. “I wanted to know the limits of the game and what fans loved about the character. I got really absorbed in that whole world. The cosplayers. The YouTube make-up tutorials.”
Portraying Lilith in the Borderlands movie puts Blanchett in the spotlight, and she is a talented enough actress to convincingly embody Lilith’s tough persona. While there is still skepticism surrounding the movie, there is no doubt that Blanchett will deliver a stellar performance. However, there are still lingering questions about the version of the character that Lionsgate and director Eli Roth will present. Despite this, Blanchett clearly enjoyed delving into the role beforehand and expressed her excitement about being a part of the movie, stating simply, “The gun-slinging stuff was so much fun.”
Lilith is a solitary outlaw who arrives on Pandora as a Vault Hunter and is one of the rare Sirens in existence. In the games, Lilith is a playable character in Borderlands, a key figure in Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and the second most important character in the latest installment of the franchise, Borderlands 3. We already know of some significant changes to the character based on the movie’s promotional materials and official synopsis, including the fact that Lilith’s home planet is not Pandora in this iteration of Borderlands lore.
Borderlands, with its unexpected (and likely completely inaccurate) rating, hits theaters on August 9th.
