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Sarah pretends to be Cosima to get inside the Dyad Institute. (Episode 1)
“It always had to be Sarah first, and so, Sarah’s idea of Cosima,” says Tatiana Maslany. “Sarah and Cosima don’t have a lot of contact physically. They see each other on Skype. So I think Sarah was a little bit out of her depth as far as that. And I definitely felt insane doing it because, for some reason, those two were really hard for me to provide. But it was really fun because it was so difficult.”

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Alison’s debut in the musical Blood Ties takes a nosedive when she faceplants on opening night after mixing pills and booze. (Episode 3) “There was like one moment that was a stunt [double], but we did throw me off the stage a couple times,” reveals Maslany. “That whole sequence was so much fun. I got to work with an awesome singing coach who helped me get to the emotional core of that stuff. It’s totally a dream come true for Alison to get to do that, and for me, consequently.”

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An escaped and bloody Helena rescues Sarah from Daniel’s clutches. (Episode 4)
“That was this amazing moment of revenge for [Helena], and coming back into her own,” Maslany recalls. “Helena’s not aware of what she looks like ever. She doesn’t care. And when I’m playing her, the more deranged I look, the more I feel like just her on a normal basis. (Laughs) I really loved going there with her. To have her playing the murderer again when she kills Daniel and then being reunited with Sarah, there was so much in there to play with. So dark and so haunting.” (Oh, and as for Sarah’s uncomfortable, tied-up position? “I lost feeling in my thumb.”)

"Orphan Black" Ep205_D8_11-22Photo: Jan Thijs 2013

In an unusually touching moment, Sarah reveals her true feelings about Helena’s presumed demise. (Episode 5)
“What was wonderful about it is that we got to see Sarah’s love for Helena and the mess of emotions that she felt about what she’d done at the end of Season 1, when she shot Helena,” says Maslany. “Obviously, she felt very strongly about getting rid of her, that she was in the way and that she was a danger to Sarah’s life and to her daughter. But at the same time, she was her twin and there was a bond there that was undeniable. So getting to shoot that scene, where Sarah actually stops running from her feelings and … uses her love for Helena to stop her from being what she is, was really wonderful to shoot.”

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Paul and Rachel engage in some rather kinky sex, during which she puts her hand into his mouth to inspect his teeth — something Maslany and director Helen Shaver came up with. (Episode 5)
“Helen really challenged us to go for it,” Maslany remembers. “[She] wanted to explore Rachel’s sexuality because she felt there was such a mine field there to play with. You don’t get to see that side of Rachel. Like, ‘What does that look like?’ It can’t just be classic missionary. That would be so boring… To us, it was interesting to explore this idea of her inspecting Paul like a prize horse and denying him pleasure…. The power dynamic was really unusual. I haven’t seen that before on camera. Helen was our first female director and really brought that knowledge to the directing.”

"Orphan Black" Ep 206 Day 7Photo: Jan Thijs 2013

Helena finds an unexpected friend — and possibly something more, for the first time — in Patrick J. Adams’ Jesse. (Episode 6)
“[Patrick] was awesome,” says Maslany, “and definitely allowed me to play another side of [Helena] and let her play out being romantic and having a boyfriend — or whatever that means to her. I don’t think it really means much. I don’t think it’s a concept she understands. It was such a fun day. It turned into this like ‘80s slow dance. It was really funny.”
 

"Orphan Black" Ep 208 Day 6Photo: Jan Thijs 2013

Maslany takes on a new clone: the transgender Tony. (Episode 8)
“Tony was a collaboration between myself and the writers and the hair and make-up team,” notes Maslany. “I did research and reading and dissecting of what that experience might be, but it also came a lot from my own imagination and my own ideas. As far as his background went, we wanted to go with a guy who was raised in hetero-normative society, sort of a small town situation where his masculinity comes from very hetero guys. … It was important to me that the physical effects of testosterone would be evident. Obviously, I can’t change my body too much because I’m playing all the other clones, but there definitely were things I did to try to man up my body a bit, whether it was working on my arms or growing hair.”

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Tony plants a kiss on Sarah’s foster brother Felix. (Episode 8)
“[It] was quite exciting for Jordan [Gavaris, who plays Felix] and I to shoot the intimate scene between the two of them,” admits Maslany. “That was an amazing scene to shoot, too, because Jordan was just so incredible in it. And I felt like we were just touching on territory that we hadn’t gotten to explore together yet.”

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After nearly two seasons of berating her husband, Alison asks Donnie if he loves her. (Episode 8)
“The whole relationship with Donnie was just so wonderful this season,” says Maslany. “It was so intense. We got to show that love between the two of them again for the first time and some rebuilding of trust. That’s such an important thing for the two of them because they do love each other so much, and we have to care about that relationship so that we care about the rest of the storylines. And Kristian [Bruun, who plays Donnie] is so fantastic to work with. He’s so funny and so sweet and a great actor.”

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As her daughter Kira donates her bone marrow to save Cosima’s life, Sarah tearfully wonders what kind of mother she is. So how does Maslany tap into that motherly instinct? (Episode 9)
“As a woman, I understand that situation, and I have siblings who I care deeply about. Also, Skyler [Wexler, who plays Kira] is just so fantastic. When I’m shooting that much with her, I just feel like she is my kid. You can fool yourself as an actor to think a lot of things.”

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After finding out that Henrik implanted her eggs (and his sperm) in his own daughter Gracie — as well as countless other women — Helena exacts her revenge on him. (Episode 9)
“We had like two takes at it, and it was kind of all improvised and very dark,” Maslany recalls. “It was at four in the morning or something on a Friday It was just like a very intense (laughs) night on set and really fun to come and just get to play, even though it was in dark territory. “

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Steely Rachel watches home videos of herself and her father and then starts manically laughing and crying. (Episode 9)
“I just feel like that’s brewing under her all the time, in the same way that Alison’s always pushing [down her feelings] with this huge well of panic,” describes Maslany. “I feel like so much of [Rachel’s] pain is pushed as far down to her toes as she can possibly keep it. And that’s what makes it all the more powerful then when it comes out and [all the] more exciting to see a buttoned-up character release their s–t. (Laughs).”

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Sarah and Cosima talk life, death and science in bed. (Episode 10)

“That was a really lovely moment,” says Maslany. “That was the last scene that [my double] Kathryn [Alexandre] and I shot together. It’s just beautiful to get to work with her in that situation. It was just so pared down and no kind of fireworks. It’s just two girls talking, and it really drove home that state of sisterhood and how much the clones love each other and need each other. I loved that scene.”