Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany

PREMIUM: 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.

WS: In this past season you weren’t the only clone in town. What’s it been like having this new dimension to the show? Did you give Ari Millen, who plays the Castor clones, any tips on how it’s done?
MASLANY: We talked about it before he took on the part, but it was never an advice thing because [how you prepare] is so specific to each person. I told him about my own experience, and he came to the set to watch us shoot the clone dance party in season two. But he really made it his own process. He also had such a different challenge than I did, which was that the Castor clones were raised together. Their differences were more nuanced and their brotherhood was stronger; they had a different dynamic than the Leda clones, who are dispersed and who are discovering each other for the first time and are very different. I thought he did such an amazing job. It was so great to get to watch somebody else do that thing and confront that challenge.

It really opens up the nature-versus-nurture debate in a different way and allows us to look at identity differently. There’s something great about the military aspect of it too, [to look at] how much of your identity gets stripped from you when you’re in this sort of homogenized group. When you’ve been raised as that and you’ve been raised to kill, how do you break out of that? Those questions are really interesting and relevant.

WS: My favorite scenes are the ones when the “Clone Club” members are spending time together. Tell us about the production process for you.
MASLANY: We did that dinner scene at the end of season three, and that was a blast! We not only had four clones and Felix in the scene, we had Donnie, Art, Mrs. S and Scott. It’s really fun to add those people into it because they are so much a part of the show and sometimes they can be second fiddle to the clone pyrotechnics. We have such amazing co-stars and such an amazing support cast, so it was great to get to spend those days with them and for them to be in on the process of how those scenes happen. There were a lot of hysterics, both tears and laughter.

We block the whole sequence, and I’ll have to block as four different characters in that sequence and predetermine what the movements are like so that the lighting can be specific and so that everybody knows what we are doing and that the camera moves can be memorized. Then we shoot one pass with all of our doubles and all of the cast, and the camera memorizes that movement. Then everybody leaves except for me and potentially one person I might interact with. Then we do the scene or I do the scene by myself, looking at people across the table who aren’t there and speaking to them and listening in on a headset so that I can respond to their lines. Then we go back and we do a clone changeover and I shoot another section of it, responding to what I just shot. So I have to remember what I did and respond to it in kind. It’s a crazy, bizarre, very technical process.

WS: Are there things that you do when switching between characters? Are there traits that help you lock into each one?
MASLANY: To be honest with you, at this point the hair and makeup room really helps. When I’ve got the wig on as Helena it’s a lot easier to sink into who she is. For me it always comes back to the physicality—how they walk, where they hold their tension, what they’re afraid of. I feel like the characters are so in my body at this point that it’s really about just letting them live and letting them talk.

WS: How do you prepare for those scenes where, for example, Cosima is pretending to be Alison?
MASLANY: For those I’ll always start as the real character that I am being. So if it’s Cosima playing Alison I’ll start as Cosima, and then just let her pretend and try her best. Cosima is not an actor, so her flaws can show more and her slipups can be bigger. The great thing about it is that it allows me to make a big mess and make a lot of mistakes, and that’s sort of the fun of it, to let characters bleed into each other, not be too precious about it and let myself give it away a little.

WS: How do you keep track of all those complex story lines?
MASLANY: I don’t know anything, I’m so stupid when it comes to the plot. I leave that up to other people. I have no clue what’s going on. I just have to be in the moment, and as long as I’m in the moment, then I’m in the right place.

WS: The show has such a huge cult following with very devout fans. Why do you think it’s struck such a chord with viewers?
MASLANY: I was speaking to someone today about where television is right now and there’s a real drive to have women in lead stories. That inherently is interesting, in terms of how we look at identity and experience on Orphan Black and what makes us ourselves and what makes us unique and all the potential of who we could be depending on who our parents were or the choices that we make. I don’t know why it’s struck such a chord, but there’s something about the timing of it that people are ready for this kind of storytelling and are willing to go on the ride. In a more cynical time it wouldn’t have worked. But maybe shows like Game of Thrones have paved the way for more fantasy and imagination in the viewership.

WS: I’ve read you have a background in improv. Are there things from your improv work that have helped you in Orphan Black or any of your feature film work?
MASLANY: Absolutely. I’ve done a lot of work in film that is based completely in improv, so there it has definitely helped me. In terms of Orphan Black, the character creation itself is very much based in improv. The whole thing about improv is saying yes and fully committing to it. When I have to do these quick changeovers halfway through the day it’s about going for it and not being afraid to look like an idiot because the crew just saw me as this character and now suddenly I’m acting as this other one. [The experience also helps] in those scenes where I’m acting opposite of nobody, creating another person across from me. So much of improv is done on a blank stage, where you have to create all the props, costumes and environments. So it’s not a huge stretch for me to have to create a person across from me who doesn’t actually exist and speak to them. Definitely improv has helped me in that way.

WS: What kind of atmosphere have showrunners Graeme Manson and John Fawcett created on set for you and the rest of the cast?
MASLANY: It’s super collaborative. They are always checking in, in terms of new characters being introduced or story lines or passing things by me so that I’m in the loop and have as much of a voice as they do. That’s been really great. Krystal [the newest clone] came out of a little joke I was doing on set, playing in that voice. Graeme just went, “Oh that’s perfect, let’s make her into a character.” Then it was about how to create her and make her real and not just a joke or a caricature. They’ve always been really open in terms of the way the show is moving.

WS: You’re also doing feature-film work. Is it refreshing to fully immerse yourself in just one character, versus five or six?
MASLANY: Absolutely. It’s a totally different process to just get to sit with one character for two months instead of switching back and forth daily. It requires a different energy. I love working on feature films; that’s kind of where my heart has always been. I’ve gotten to do two exciting pieces this year, one directed by Kim Nguyen and the other directed by Joey Klein, who’s a first-time feature director. Both of them really fed me in a creative way. I felt refreshed by them because there’s something about working on a small piece—you’re just exploring and discovering and there’s no pressure for it to be on network television or anything. You just make it for yourselves, to tell the story.

WS: Does having those opportunities help you in your work on Orphan Black?
MASLANY: For sure. It reminds me about taking it slower and not feeling like I have to tell the whole story in one scene. The characters can develop over time and can reveal themselves over time. With the long-form format of television, you have a lot of space to slowly peel off the layers of the character and there’s no real rush. I definitely learned that from doing features again.