‘We’re all Borderlands:’ Jamie Lee Curtis and Randy Pitchford on adapting the game for the big screen
In Borderlands, Jamie Lee Curtis plays Tannis, a peculiar scientist who agrees to help Lilith (Cate Blanchett) and her crew uncover one of Pandora’s deepest mysteries. The ragtag group of unlikely allies includes Roland (Kevin Hart), a veteran mercenary; Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt), a catlike teen with a flair for explosives; Krieg (Florian Munteanu), a masked giant with beefy muscles; and Claptrap (Jack Black), a witty robot that never keeps quiet. Directed by Eli Roth, Borderlands is an action film of epic proportion, with fast-paced chase sequences and slapstick comedy.
In an interview with Digital Trends, Curtis and Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox, which develops the Borderlands video games, spoke about how they brought the game’s characters to life on the big screen, the lack of a non-negotiables list for the movie, and how Borderlands is not trying to be the next Citizen Kane.
Note: This article has been edited for length and clarity.
Digital Trends: With characters, it’s always about the signature details that make them unique and stand out. For Tannis, it’s her red-tinted glasses. I know her affinity for objects — ECHOnet and her chair. As an actor, how does using the objects take you inside the character and give you a better understanding?
Jamie Lee Curtis: Well, what most people don’t know is I signed up to do the movie because Cate Blanchett was going to be in it, and I was going to be in some scenes with her. Full stop. To be perfectly honest, if it had just been a movie about the dictionary, I would be like, “Cate Blanchett is going to be saying words, and I say words back to her.” They would say, “Yes.” I would say, “OK, I’m doing it.”
I really didn’t know much about it [the game]. I knew what was on the page of the script, which is an adaptation of a game. It takes the lore of the character, but it doesn’t do it really great justice because you’re serving the narrative story of the movie.
I had this great opportunity during COVID. Before a flight from Germany to Hungary, I was walking toward the plane and a woman in front of me turned and said, “Hi, Jamie. I’m Kristy Pitchford. I wrote Tannis.” At that moment, I said, “We will be sitting together on the plane.”
From Germany to Hungary, I understood who Tannis was. I did not know about objectum sexuality. I did not know about object attraction. I did not know the expanse of the spectrum that she lived in and thrived in. I was very lucky to have the woman who wrote the character give me a lot of information. It was like traveling with an encyclopedia. Then I did research once I got to Hungary when I was in captivity for whatever amount of time. We were locked in our rooms. We’re not allowed to speak to anyone else. I did a lot of that.
None of that is really in the movie. It was too vague. It was too hard to explain to people that I had a relationship with ECHOnet, and that we were together for a long period of time, and then broke up and had to work together, which is always awkward. None of that made the movie. Clark, her chair in her office. We shot it. People tried to sit on Clark. I got very angry at them. They had to stay away from Clark. None of that made the movie, but it doesn’t matter. What matters is the intention of the character is true, and I’m happy with how it all has come together because a lot is going on.
Randy Pitchford: You can feel Tannis in Jamie’s performance. It’s absolutely unbelievable. Her commitment to the character, I’ll forever be grateful.
Curtis: Yeah, it’s a very interesting small part of a much bigger soup.
To steal an idea from The Bear, Carmy writes a list of non-negotiables at the beginning of season 3. The things that the chefs must do to make their restaurant amazing. Randy, I’ll use that same concept with you.
Curtis: That’s so right. Go, Randy.
BORDERLANDS - Official Trailer - In Cinemas August 9
As the creator of the game and an executive producer on the film, did you have a list of non-negotiables for Eli? It doesn’t have to be a physical list. Did you know what aspects of the game had to go into the movie?
Pitchford: I actually took the opposite approach, Dan. I am a video game developer; that’s the kind of entertainer I am. I’m not a filmmaker. I said, look, the filmmakers are the chefs in the kitchen. I am the prep cook. I’m the sous chef. I’m just going to serve up anything they need to help them make the best dish they can make. I wanted to be a resource and an ally and support that process.
Curtis: You were, and continue to be throughout the process, which can be challenging.
Pitchford: Thank you, Jamie. It’s very hard. It’s stuff that was born with my team and me — the things I’ve created and loved and cared for. I have to nurture them, but I also have to set them free. What’s cool is the characters and the universe and the themes and the storylines have gotten so robust that they do have a life of their own now. It’s exciting when incredible storytellers, filmmakers, and talent can take this stuff and turn it into something that brings out their best qualities. I love that so much.
Curtis: We had a funny thing happen at Comic-Con. We were in these group interviews, and Kevin, who dove into playing Roland, made a joke very quickly saying he went online and read the Reddit threads. “No ‘effing way Kevin Hart is Roland because he’s not tall!”
Pitchford: [laughs] Never read the comments!
Curtis: What’s interesting is that when you see the movie, Kevin Hart is big. It doesn’t matter what his height is. That’s the beauty of the movies. It’s not about physical size because Roland is f**king badass. Whether or not the game was written where Roland is this hulking human doesn’t matter.
Maybe some of the video game fans will be like he needed to be bigger. But you know what? That’s a small criticism because these are human beings. Kevin Hart wanted to become an action star, dedicated himself to becoming a mercenary, and did a great job.
Pitchford: Yeah, you absolutely buy him. He did a really great job. It’s an awesome performance. I created Borderlands to mess around in that weird space between things that don’t fit; that’s literally what the title means.
Borderlands is called Borderlands because what’s between a shooter and a role-playing game? What’s between a Western and a science fiction? What’s between a drama and a comedy? What’s between who characters think they are and who they actually are?
Curtis: OK, you should write a book because that’s as kind of an accurate description of the bulls**t life that we all lead.
Pitchford: Yes!
Curtis: We’re all Borderlands.
Pitchford: Yes! That’s right, and I think that’s why Borderlands worked as a video game. With this film, I wanted to explore that weird, uncomfortable place between a video game and a movie. The expectation when we started was that it was going to suck because all movies based on video games suck, right? I wanted to dive into that and see if we can actually do something where the decisions aren’t being made by suits, but made by artists who want to actually play with and explore this medium.
That’s what we did. We made a fun movie. It’s not trying to be Citizen Kane. Borderlands is trying to be as fun as the game is. Borderlands is trying to be fun as a movie. The people who know the game are going to have an experience that’s totally different from all the new people who are going to discover Borderlands for the first time.
You get to live in that weird, uncomfortable place between the interactive experience and the film experience because it is in that borderland. I think people who really get Borderlands will get that, too. I think they’re going to love playing in that space with us.
Well, I can’t wait to read that book now.
Curtis: Me, too.
Pitchford: [laughs] Jamie just committed me.
Curtis: We’re all Borderlands is the title of the book. You’re gonna wax poetic like an artist and explain to the universe how we are all caught between what we pretend to be and what we think we are. It’s genius.
Borderlands is now in theaters.
