I began watching Orphan Black entirely by accident. I had originally set out to watch the movie ‘Orphan’ about that strange little girl who was actually, like, 40 years old and tricked an entire family. Anyway, I was on Amazon utilizing my Prime membership and I searched up ‘Orphan’ and the first result that came up was Orphan Black. A distant memory flashed through my mind; I was on Twitter in summer 2014 and everyone was absolutely livid that Tatiana Maslany hadn’t received an Emmy nomination. I remember wondering what the big deal was. Tons of talented actresses miss out on a nomination every year, what’s so special about her? It was then that I noticed that the entire first season of Orphan Black was completely free with a Prime membership. Wondering what the big deal was, I decided to put my ‘Orphan’ viewing on hold and I pressed play on Season 1, Episode 1 of Orphan Black. The rest, as they say, is history. Within the first 5 minutes of the episode, I understood the uproar.

Sarah Manning is an orphan, a little rough around the edges with an English accent, dark eyeliner, and dark brown hair with blonde highlights. When we first meet her, she’s dressed down in a leather jacket, black short shorts with ripped leggings and boots. She is a drifter, doesn’t like to stay in one place for too long. The episode opens with her on a train coming back into town (in Canada, presumably) after being gone over a year so that she can reconnect with her young daughter and foster brother. While on the train platform trying to call her foster mother Mrs. S., who currently has custody of her daughter Kira, she witnesses a young woman on the other side of the platform quietly sobbing as she takes off article after article of clothing. Sarah watches, enthralled, as the woman calmly takes off her shoes, then her jacket. As Sarah hangs up the phone and begins walking towards this woman, perhaps out of curiosity or sheer will, the woman turns around to face her with tears in her eyes. Here’s the shocker: the young woman looks exactly like her. This young woman is Beth Childs and she is, as we’ll later find out, a homicide detective. Sarah’s face says everything without her uttering a single word – and this is the strength in Maslany’s acting. Her mouth hangs slightly open, her eyes staring directly into… her own eyes. She is both shocked and confused. But the other woman doesn’t look at all surprised. As a matter of fact, she stares right past Sarah as though she doesn’t exist – then turns and walks right in front of an oncoming train, killing herself instantly. Sarah is absolutely mortified and I am instantly hooked.

In my opinion, that was one of the best opening scenes to any series I’ve ever watched. The show does a fantastic job of putting you right in the first person perspective. Immediately, you are as confused as Sarah is. You’re thrown into this situation with her and you’re thinking what she’s thinking – was that her twin? What just happened? Before the end of the second episode, you find out what is really going on and what the entire show is about. Sarah is a clone and what she just witnessed will change her life forever. After a fateful decision to impersonate Beth in an effort to steal all her money and skip town, Sarah stumbles into a massive conspiracy involving science, the military, and a ton of hidden secrets. As the story unfolds over the next three seasons, we meet more of the clones, Sarah’s “sisters.” An American PhD student named Cosima Niehaus, a suburban housewife/soccer mom named Allison Hendrix, a misunderstood Ukrainian clone named Helena, a German clone named Katja Obinger, and the aforementioned homicide detective named Beth Childs  These are just the first 5 clones we meet, excluding Sarah. We meet at least 3 more down the line, including a transgendered clone named Tony and a “super clone” named Rachel. All of them are completely different and all of them are played brilliantly by Maslany. Though the show contains talented co-stars and a very interesting and compelling storyline, she is the main reason why I’ve continued watching and why I will continue to watch until the very last episode airs.

Tatiana Maslany doesn’t look like any actress in Hollywood – and I mean this as a compliment. Her face is interesting; she’s beautiful, absolutely captivating, with eyes that say everything even when she’s completely silent. She switches from clone to clone with such ease, I sometimes forget that it’s the same actress. A scene in Orphan Black that both impressed and amazed me was a clone dance party at the end of season 2 in which Sarah, Allison, Helena, and Cosima have a jovial dance-off. This scene felt like a lighthearted send off after what had been such an emotionally wrought season. Four clones all dancing together, engaging in different dancing styles akin to their different personalities. One actress.

Immediately after watching the pilot episode, I ran to Maslany’s IMDB page to see what her filmography consisted of and how else I can see more of her. She has been nominated for an Emmy (finally), a SAG award, and a Golden Globe but she hasn’t won either yet. She has won two Critics Choice Awards for Best Actress in a Drama Series and a litany of other awards for her performances. Despite all her critical praise, despite having a rack of nominations under her belt, I was surprised to see that she had mostly done short lived TV shows, little known indies and a 2-episode guest stint on Parks & Recreation (one of my favorite shows). I had actually seen her episodes of Parks & Recreation in which she plays Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari)’s love interest and I felt like punching myself in the face for not remembering her. As I viewed her IMDB page, I was frustrated that she wasn’t being offered more lucrative, mainstream roles like her peers. How is anyone supposed to know about this brilliant actress if no one is willing to cast her in something mainstream? The world needs to be exposed to this talent, not just the cult following that Orphan Black has known as the clone club.

 

What I want for Tatiana Maslany is continued success after Orphan Black airs its last episode. I want her to be in the ranks of Hollywood’s top greatest actresses. I want her to get a star on the Walk of Fame in a couple of decades (if that’s still even a thing by then). I want her to win all the awards. I want her to win 10,000 Oscars. I just want her to be recognized. Is that too much to ask? I’m sure Tatiana, as humble as she seems, will be just fine if she can continue to work consistently. I’ll be honest; even if she continues to act in small indies for the rest of her career, I will still support her because I think she is an extremely talented woman. But I do believe that she deserves to be in the position someone like Jennifer Lawrence or Kristen Stewart currently holds where she will be able to pick and choose whatever roles she wants to play.

She has a couple of indie movies coming out soon; one with Dane DeHaan called TWO LOVERS AND A BEAR and another with Tom Cullen (her long time boyfriend) called THE OTHER HALF. Another one of her upcoming movies is a movie called STRONGER in which she will co-star with Jake Gyllenhaal. The movie is to be distributed by Lionsgate, a major studio. It sounds very promising. I just hope it is a sign of things to come for Tatiana Maslany. Onwards and upwards.

Season 4 of Orphan Black airs April 14^th, 2016. Check out the awesome trailer below:

Her newest movie, THE OTHER HALF with Tom Cullen, premieres at the SXSW film festival on March 12, 2016.

Visit the official site here: http://theotherhalfmovie.com/
And the official Twitter: @otherhalfmovie

View the first clip here: