Eli Roth's live-action Borderlands adaptation may have wrapped filming, but there is yet to be a release date announced. Still, the cast has been revealed, with Jumanji stars Kevin Hart and Jack Black leading the movie alongside Cate Blanchett (Thor: Ragnarok), Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween), and Ariana Greenblatt (Avengers: Infinity War).
Greenblatt may be the lesser-known name amongst the leads, but the young actress is playing one of the most iconic characters from the Borderlands franchise, Tiny Tina. Greenblatt's experience in Love and Monsters, the make-up for her role as Young Gamora in Avengers: Infinity War, and the choreography skills she picked up on Dancing With the Stars Jr. all helped prep her for the role.
When we recently spoke with Ariana to help promote the release of The Boss Baby: Family Business, she revealed to us how much her dance experience helped with the fight choreography. She told us that she was so confident in her skills that she wouldn't let her stunt double step in for a single scene.
You can see and hear her passion for the role and the franchise in our full video chat below. For those that prefer the written word, the transcript of the Borderlands portion of our chat is included as well.
Literary Joe: You're going to be Tiny Tina in Borderlands, and that source material is really graphic and aimed at adults. Were you able to go back and play those games, or is that something where they had to give you a recap? And it was like, 'all right, this is crazy, so we're going to tell you about this character rather than let you play these games.'
Ariana Greenblatt: No, they showed me everything. I was fully engrossed in the character. I watched every clip of Tiny Tina. I watched every interview of the girl who voiced Tiny Tina. I was fully in it, watched all the games, and studied all the characters and what they say.
I was in it to win it. I memorized every little saying she does, every little flip thing that she does, everything. So they definitely didn't hide anything from me, and even if they wanted to, I would find it. And I was fully Borderlands mode for like five months.
Literary Joe: I know you have experience in dance, and I'm curious if that translates at all with the choreography on screen? When you do characters like Tiny Tina, who you said does all these flips and things, is that something where your experience with dance helps you approach that?
Ariana Greenblatt: For sure. Completely. Being coordinated, especially with the stunts that everyone does in the movie. It definitely helps, especially because, in the stunt world, things change very quickly.
So, having the past relationship with dance and knowing the memorization of the dancing and the quick changes and stuff like that definitely helped with stunts. And also, I did all my own stunts because I love doing all that stuff.
Literary Joe: You did all your own stunts at fourteen?
Ariana Greenblatt: I'm fourteen next week, yeah. I got really close to my stunt double while filming. I'm trying to say everything without spoiling! I got really close with the stunt double they had for me, and she was like, 'this is my job. Can you let me do at least one stunt?' And I was like, 'Nope, I'm doing it. I want to do it.'
So I was engrossed in Tiny Tina. I was in tiny Tina mode; everything I said was Tiny Tina. It was great. So watch out for Tiny Tina because she's coming in, and she's coming in hot!
What do you guys think about Ariana's comments on her Tiny Tina experience with the upcoming Borderlands flick? Check out the trailer and synopsis for The Boss Baby: Family Business below, and as always, share your thoughts in the usual spot!
How many Boss Babies can one family hold? He may be a big-shot moneyman now, but Ted Templeton flashes back to his Boss Baby past when he and his brother Tim renew their rivalry and make a shocking discovery! Turns out, Tim's infant daughter Tina inherited Uncle Ted's job as an undercover BabyCorp agent.
She's on a secret mission to stop an evil plan to turn babies into brats, and she needs both brothers to help! Ted and Tim now have to turn back into kids for a hilariously outrageous adventure in 3D that reminds them of the true power of family!
The Boss Baby: Family Business is now on Digital and releases on Blu-ray & DVD on September 14th.