Q&A with Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany

NEW YORK: Tatiana Maslany talks to World Screen about pulling off playing a core group of five very different characters, and several others, in the series Orphan Black, which explores the issues of human cloning, identity and more.

WS: What was your initial reaction to the script?
MASLANY: It was unlike anything I had ever read in terms of the possibilities of it and the challenges of it. That really turned me on. I was rabidly hungry for that kind of a part. I wasn’t sure that it would actually work or if the gimmick would fall in on itself. Luckily the timing was such that we had the right people behind the show and the public was ready for it. We are very lucky that it hit the way that it did, because I think that in a more cynical environment it might not have worked so well. 

WS: How did it feel watching an episode for the first time and seeing the “Clone Club” members together in the same room?
MASLANY: It was bizarre! It’s crazy to watch the scenes back and see how they come together, because I do my part and then it goes off to post-production and they put their magic on it, which is to make everybody else’s work look amazing. If we didn’t have them we would have nothing; the cracks in the scenes would be so obvious. It’s really exciting and it’s so much fun. We continue to try to push the boundaries of what we’re willing to do in those clone scenes so that it keeps us on our toes and keeps the audience guessing as to how it was done.

WS: How did you prepare for the first set of clones introduced in season one? And was that process different in the latest season with the introduction of Krystal?
MASLANY: I had a lot more time with the first few clones. I had to develop Alison, Cosima, Sarah and Beth in the audition process—so they were already under way. Helena was kind of a surprise halfway through the season, as Rachel was, and Tony was, and Krystal definitely was. They had a shorter, more truncated process. I was shooting the series at the same time as I was trying to create these characters. It’s a real test of my endurance and stamina to develop a new character while still defending the characters that I’m playing. It’s a lot [laughs], but it’s always fun.

This interview continues here.