Actors train for years to master different accents. Some can pull it off, like Gary Oldman, and some are simply painful to watch, like Mickey Rooney (God rest his soul) in Breakfast at Tiffany's. A lot of actors even tend to portray the same type of character in every film, like Matthew McConaughey before he returned to taking on Oscar-worthy roles.
That's all to say: Most actors have nothing in comparison to Tatiana Maslany. If you haven't heard of her yet, we're deeply ashamed of you. And yet, we want to educate you. Orphan Black is a Canadian sci-fi series that follows Sarah Manning after she steals the identity of her doppelganger, Elizabeth, after she commits suicide, only to find that there are many more who look exactly her. Many more, that is, because they're all clones (all of which are played by Maslany).
The show, which returns for season two tomorrow night on BBC America, is completely engrossing, as is Maslany's amazing performance of several different women all in the span of 43 minutes per episode. It's undeniable, Tatiana Maslany is the biggest badass on television. Here's more proof:
Tatiana plays, so far, 11 extremely different characters.
But she always gives props to the people who help her, like her body double, Kathryn Alexandre.
Not only does she play so many different characters, but she often faces the challenges of certain clones posing as others. For example:
Somehow, she keeps it all straight.
She pulls off a creepy, murderous, religious nut—
—just as well as she pulls off a suburban stay-at-home mom.
Plus, as so many characters, that means you get to see her act out a lot of steamy romances.
And, of course, she understands the greatest part about finding out there are clones of you.
Written by Hope Schreiber (@HopeSchreiber)
[GIFs via After Ellen, nadgarstek, E! Online, WeHeartIt, Kiss My Wonder Woman, orphanblack, booasaur, tatianamaslanydaily, Uproxx, The Frisky, jerseymeetscountry]
