Cate Blanchett Attributes Signing on for Borderlands to ‘COVID Madness’

Like how some people made sourdough.

A wise man (Lucas in Empire Records) once said “Who knows where thoughts come from? They just appear.” Sometimes we get that impulsive thought, one that can’t be denied. Cut your bangs, your brain whispers. Eat a whole cake. Star in Eli Roth’s adaptation of Borderlands. Cate Blanchett couldn’t silence that voice. She told Empire that “COVID madness” was partially responsible for her decision to play Lilith. “The crazy asks are usually the things I gravitate towards; the things I could never conceive of,” she said. “I think there also may have been a little Covid madness — I was spending a lot of time in the garden, using the chainsaw a little too freely. My husband said, ‘This film could save your life.’” She went whole hog into research, sourcing a PS5 and becoming a hardcore gamer. “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.” Maybe she’ll make a Lydia Tár beauty regimen video some day. We can dream!

• [Empire]

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