Jamie Lee Curtis Threw Ariana Greenblatt the 'Craziest' Middle School Graduation on “Borderlands ”Set (Exclusive)

While filming Eli Roth’s ‘Borderlands,’ Ariana Greenblatt missed a special milestone — until the cast and crew created one instead

Ariana Greenblatt is remembering a very special milestone from the set of her movie Borderlands.

The action-packed sci-fi comedy from director Eli Roth stars Greenblatt, 16, as a wild pre-teen demolitionist named Tiny Tina — one of the video game-turned-movie’s extraterrestrial outlaws and outcasts, alongside Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis and Jack Black.

At Las Vegas’ CinemaCon, where she was receiving the Rising Star of 2024 Award on April 11, Greenblatt told PEOPLE about her “favorite memory” from filming Borderlands in Budapest, Hungary.

Related: Everything to Know About Borderlands

“I graduated middle school from that set,” the Barbie star recalls. “And I was feeling down in the dumps because all my friends had their graduation together… Like, ‘Damn, I missed my graduation.’ ”

But Curtis, Roth, the rest of the Borderlands crew and, it turns out, Greenblatt’s mother, had a plan.

One day Greenblatt’s on-set teacher, she says, “put a cap and gown on me and my cap had Tina's bunny ears on it.” The movie’s props team “super-glued bunny ears on my cap, the cutest thing ever.”

Then, she says, “I hear the graduation music play in the massive sound stage and I see the entire crew, the entire cast, every extra on set.”

A mock-graduation followed, with Greenblatt’s fellow cast members and crew passing around a microphone to honor her. “They talked about my straight A's. They had stories. They made a speech for me,” she remembers with a smile.

“I got a diploma, a Borderlands diploma! They had, like, a kill count on it. It was the craziest experience and it was such a shock and such a surprise. I'll never forget it — my middle school graduation on the set of Borderlands.”

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Curtis, 65, “absolutely” helped spearhead the show, adds Greenblatt. “Eli, my mom, Jamie. They all had a thing to do.”

That included Borderlands’ stunt professionals. “Literally Cate's stunt double came from the sky on wire. They were doing stunts. It was the craziest thing you could think of,” she says. “I'll never forget it.”

Blanchett, 54, leads Borderlands as an infamous outlaw named Lilith, teaming up with a motley crew that includes former soldier Roland (Hart), scientist Tannis (Curtis), Tiny Tina, her bodyguard Krieg (Florian Munteanu) and feisty robot Claptrap (Black).

“The fate of the universe could be in their hands – but they’ll be fighting for something more: each other,” reads a synopsis.

Greenblatt joined Roth, 51, onstage at CinemaCon during distributor Lionsgate’s April 10 presentation of upcoming titles. “I’ve never been happier on a set than I was with Borderlands,” she told the crowd. “I have a great support system around me and that’s the key to staying sane, so I can play insane characters.”

Speaking to PEOPLE, the Ahsoka star says it’s her brother and parents who “keep me grounded, of course. My friends — I went to a normal high school, so they humble me as you wouldn’t believe. They got my back for sure.”

She adds, “I don't want to get in my head about anything, ever. Playing insane characters is so fun because you get to let out every emotion you've ever felt into one character. It’s super freeing.”

Borderlands is in theaters Aug. 9.

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