I am going to let my glorious half-sister, Jonesy, tell you about this because 1) I haven't finished watching it all, yet; 2) she discovered it first; and 3) this is the fortuitous proof of the power of shared genetics ...
One of My Favorite TV Shows (2015):
By Celeste Jones
Orphan Black
Tatiana Maslany, an amazing actress, plays several identical people who are revealed to be clones. The main character is Sarah Manning. Sarah is a con artist who, in the pilot episode, witnesses the suicide of Beth Childs. Beth was a clone so it was much more dramatic and traumatizing for Sarah since Beth looked identical to her not knowing anything about the clones!
This was one of the best pilot episodes of a tv show I have ever seen. It immediately grabs you, shakes you, mesmorizes you and then throws you on the cold, hard ground leaving you wanting more!
Tatiana Maslany is a brilliant actress who plays so many roles here. Each character she plays of course look exactly the same, but their personalities, the way they walk, move, laugh etc are 100% different! She plays everything from a criminal to a detective to a fanatic assasin.
Wikipedia explains how they film scenes where more than one clone will be on screen at the same time:
"Maslany created different music playlists to listen to, to help her differentiate the various characters she portrays. When filming scenes in which Maslany has multiple parts the scene is filmed multiple times using motion control cameras mounted on dollies to replicate the movement between each shot. She acts the scene first with her body double Kathryn Alexandre in the alternate clone role, then again with the roles swapped, and a third time with the scene filmed with just the camera motion for a background plate. In post-production Alexandre is replaced with the images of Maslany from the alternate shots, thereby allowing for more action in scenes where she interacts with herself."
Isn't that fascinating!
I can't wait to see Tatiana, the other actors and the entire team be recognized for this jaw dropping tv series.
Wikipedia addresses this subject as well:
"Tatiana Maslany has received universal acclaim for her performance as the various clones. Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter called her performance "fantastic". When Maslany failed to garner a nomination for Lead Actress in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, this was seen as a snub by many critics. Goodman called it an "outrageous oversight"."
Outrageous oversight for sure! I think this show is an abesolute must see!
Here is a video an inside look at how they filmed a 4 clone dance party!
****Warning - do not watch until Season 2 Finale
