ORPHAN BLACK at TCA: Live-Blog

BBC America is bringing ORPHAN BLACK (and series stars Tatiana Maslany and Jordan Gavaris, as well as show creator Graeme Manson) to today’s 2014 Winter Press Tour, and I’ll be live-blogging what they have to say — which hopefully will include a little tease about what’s to come in season 2 — when the panel starts around 2:30 PM PT/5:30 PM ET.

Check back for the latest from Team ORPHAN BLACK!

2:31 PM: We’re seeing a sizzle reel of what went down, and now we’re getting a peek at season 2 of Sarah, immediately post-kidnapping. She’ll find out what happened — and get an offer that could cost her everything — immediately.

2:36 PM: “It was daunting to come back to it because I knew how much work it was going to be,” Maslany says. Now, in season 2, “it’s time to go deeper with it.” She says she loves all these characters so much, and they’re deepening the orld of all of the clones. She does note, “the challenge continues every day, but that’s what keeps me obsessed with the job.”

2:38 PM: We got a question about the porn Alison’s husband had — the title was from the writer of the episode.

2:39 PM: “We’re got these amazing characters…we’re really enjoying this season, digging deeper into their lives,” Manson says of whether they’ll go into some of the other tropes other clone shows have. “We’re shooting episode 8 of 10 already, and it feels like we have a lot to go with these characters.”

2:40 PM: “I wasn’t willing to admit she was so much a part of me,” Maslany says of Alison being difficult for her. But she also notes that Rachel and her power terrifies her. She says this show lets her try these different type of characters that she normally wouldn’t be cast as, such as Rachel’s power CEO gig.

2:42 PM: If you were wondering how Maslany plays the characters when she’s acting opposite herself, she says she does all her blocking for each character, then she shoots all of her scenes as each character (including coverage), and then swap to the other.

It gets more complicated, however, when another actor gets involved, and then they bring in what Gavaris dubs “those incredible, artistic tennis balls.”

2:43 PM: “Hugely deeper,” Gavaris says of Felix. “I think in season 1, Felix was an integral cog of the mystery…season 2 helps establish him outside of the clones, as an individual.”

Manson teases that the Felix-Sarah relationship will be tested in season 2. “I think it’s safe to say the relationship with Sarah that will come to a head,” Gavaris says.

2:46 PM: Maslany is asked whether she draws on the clones when she needs to showcase other parts of her personality, and she says, “I’ve learned a lot from Sarah and her strength. She’s such a survivor.” But Manson jokes you don’t want to ask her for a favor when she’s channeling Alison.

2:48 PM: “Without giving too much away, we’re taking some risks with our premise,” Manson says of season 2. Gavaris says there are times when they’ve wondered if they’re going to be able to pull things off as actors.

2:49 PM: How has the critical praise changed Maslany? Gavaris jokes she no longer takes his calls. Maslany says that because TV critics and bloggers and the Clone Club talked about it, the show has spread to a wider audience. She says it’s “wild to be seen differently, or have more visibility. I’m an actor. I like having attention!”

2:51 PM: Gavaris preemptively apologizes for interrupting someone in the audience and then jokes he’s “so Canadian.”

2:52 PM: What’s in store for Cosima? “Cosima has been the one that’s most fascinated by life, so it’s interesting to see her facing her own mortality,” Maslany says. Manson says she’s his favorite clone, and they’re “putting her in this heartbreaking position, but she’s almost as brave as Sarah in many ways.” He notes she’s performing an important story function in season 2.

2:54 PM: Manson says they knew when Alison tortured her husband that he would end up being revealed as her watcher. They didn’t know how it would wrinkle into the neighbor’s death at the end, but they knew he was guilty.

2:55 PM: Manson says the show has a “long-term plan that is pretty elastic, conceptually.” He says when they had to pitch the show originally, they had to have a long-term plan and a bible that spun things out for season 3.

2:57 PM: Now that Alison accidentally killed someone, that won’t be going away. It will be “eating at her” Manson says, and she’ll have some “explosions” coming up.

Will there be new clones introduced? Manson says it’s not a clone of the week show, but when they think about adding another one, they talk with Maslany about the ideas and they work on the character together.

Will there be Felix clones? Gavaris says there’s just one, because “I think the world can only handle one Felix!”

2:59 PM: Manson says looking at Maslany’s shooting scripts is something unlike any other actor, because there are multiple colors of papers and a ton, ton, ton of notes about her thoughts about the characters.

3:00 PM: And we’re done! Thanks for following along.