Take An Inside Look at ORPHAN BLACK

Back on March 30, the new sci-fi laced TV series Orphan Black debuted on BBC America. The series explores what happens when a woman named Sarah (Tatiana Maslany) finds out she’s a clone. Sarah is an outsider, orphan and street-wise chameleon who, after witnessing a woman’s suicide, assumes the stranger’s identity. Oddly enough, the woman looks just like her. Sarah is keen to solve her problems by taking on her lookalike’s identity and savings, but instead she is thrust into a dizzying mystery. Sarah learns early on that she and the woman are in fact clones — and that there are more people out there like her. It also doesn’t help that an assassin is pegging off clones one by one.

Along for the this incredible roller-coaster ride is Sarah’s foster brother Felix, played by Jordan Gavaris (Unnatural History); Paul, the boyfriend of Beth, one of Sarah’s clones, portrayed by Dylan Bruce (As the World Turns); Art, Beth’s partner on the police force, played by Kevin Hanchard (The Listener); Vic, Sarah’s slightly-unhinged ex-boyfriend, portrayed by Michael Mando (The Colony) and Mrs. S, the foster mom of both Sarah and Felix and current guardian to Sarah’s daughter Kira, played by Maria Doyle Kennedy (Downton Abbey).

The creative minds who created Orphan Black are Graeme Manson, who has worked as a producer on shows like Flashpoint and Endgame, and John Fawcett, who has worked as a director on shows like Saving Hope, Lost Girl and Rookie Blue. Wearing the hats of executive producers alongside Manson and Fawcett are David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, who are also co-presidents of Temple Street Productions, the Toronto based production company behind the show (whose other productions include Being Erica and Queer as Folk).

In an exclusive interview with NiceGirlsTV, Fortier and Schneeberg had this to share about the genesis of Orphan Black, “Graeme and John came to us with a spec script about four years ago. We had known both of them for years and really wanted to find a project (for which) to work with them on. We read the script on a red-eye (flight) to London – (we) loved it – and immediately called our drama team from the cab with emphatic instructions to option the project! We (then) sat down with Graeme and John as soon as we got back; (and) we’ve been involved in the development of the project ever since. The drama team here at Temple Street (led by British ex-pat Kerry Appleyard) have played a huge role as well”.

In talking about the casting process where lead actress Tatiana Maslany is concerned, the duo shared that they have known the actress for a while, working with her on the popular Canadian series Being Erica (she had an important recurring role as the daughter of Dr. Tom) as well as the mini-series The Nativity. They went on to share that “we’ve known for some time that she’s a ridiculous talent; in fact, she was always sort of our “ace in the hole”. When trying to set the show up, and during development, when people raised concerns about whether one actress could really pull off playing all the clones (in a convincing way, without pulling viewers out of the show), we took comfort in the fact that we really believed Tatiana could”. There was some concern whether Tatiana would be available, but (as luck would have it), after the show was greenlit, she auditioned and was “frankly astounding – seamlessly shifting between characters much as she does in the show itself. We’d get so drawn into her performances; we’d forget that we were in a casting session”.

Where co-star Jordan Gavaris is concerned, the duo shared that they weren’t familiar with his work on Unnatural History (the short-lived Cartoon Network series for which Jordan starred in back in 2010), but “when we watched the tape from his first audition…he just rocked it! Channeling a young Mick Jagger, he owned the part from the beginning. We fell in love with him from that first audition and championed him throughout”.

Viewers have been debating whether the series is actually set in the US or in Canada; and the duo had this to share, “we weren’t really trying to make it look like the US or a specific US city.” What they wanted was “more (of) a big, urban city, with a specific aesthetic very carefully designed by John (Fawcett) and our awesome Director of Photography Aaron Morton”. The show is filmed in Toronto and it was their intention to keep the location “kind of vague”.

As viewers can imagine, financing any TV series is a challenge and the duo shared that “getting a show financed is always a tough haul. We have three partners on this show in Bell Media, BBC America and BBC Worldwide. We got them on board after pitching everyone under the sun. Our partners didn’t all come in at the same time, and keeping potential partners interested while you shore up whatever remaining money is necessary can be like keeping marbles on a glass table”. That being said, I am positive that the fans of the new series are pleased that the marbles remained on the table so the show could come to fruition.

When asked if they could reveal any spoilers, the duo was careful in not giving too much away, but they were able to share that “we (will) keep going deeper down the rabbit hole. We find out more about who’s behind the cloning experiment and who’s behind the killing of the clones. And we spend more time with our clone family. We take Sarah to the suburbs and find out more about what Cosima’s up to at university. And for sure we see more of Kira and get a hint of how she ties into the whole mystery”.

And thankfully, the folks over at BBC America have faith in the show as they recently announced a second season pick-up (10 more new episodes slated for airing in 2014!), giving the creative minds at Orphan Black ample opportunity to delve even deeper into the clones. In fact, the duo shared that “Graeme and John have been thinking about this show for so long you can (only) imagine the kind of fodder that exists for future seasons”. So much goodness to look forward to, right fans?!

Make sure to tune into BBC America tomorrow night (Saturday, May 4) at 9/8c to see the next new episode of Orphan Black.

NOTE: Thanks are extended to David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, Temple Street Productions and the Ink Media Corporation for making this interview opportunity possible!