We just finished the first season of ORPHAN BLACK, the BBC America production starring the extraordinary Tatiana Maslany. The basic premise--a group of young women who are all genetically identical clones caught up in some strange conspiracies--gives rise to some gripping stories, though I think its already beginning to wear just a bit thin; Ill be interested to see how the writing is sustained in season 2. But what is unambiguously brilliant is Maslanys acting, as she plays a British punk and petty grifter; a mid-American soccer mom; a Ukrainian religious fanatic and trained assassin; a hippie girl from Berkeley whos working on a PhD in biology; and others. She creates each character so crisply and clearly that one almost forgets that they all look exactly alike--even when she plays one character pretending to be another. And theres not much room for Method acting in this sort of thing. Sometimes as many as three of Maslanys characters are in the same frame simultaneously, so some of her most emotional speeches are actually directed--for instance--to a tennis ball mounted atop a stick. I would say that she has quite a bright future in acting ahead of her.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 17:47:15 +0000
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