Toronto International Film Festival®(TIFF) breakout talent, Tatiana Maslany (Picture Day, The Vow), has been cast to star in the new original series Orphan Black, produced by Temple Street Productions for BBC AMERICA and Canadian cable channel, SPACE. The announcement was made as Maslany was feted for her starring role in the feature Picture Day, which made its world premiere at this year's festival. The Genie and Gemini-nominated actor, who received the 2010 Sundance special jury prize for Grown Up Movie Star, is capturing the increasing attention of fans and industry elite alike – including recent critical acclaim from The Globe and Mail, Toronto Sun, and NOW Magazine. Set to begin production in Toronto this October, additional casting for the 10 episode series will be announced soon.
In Orphan Black, Maslany stars as Sarah, an outsider, orphan, and street-wise chameleon who has a murky past and tenuous future after she witnesses a woman's suicide. After deciding to assume the identity of the dead stranger who looks just like her, Sarah learns the dizzying truth – that she and the dead woman are clones. As Sarah searches for answers, she discovers another chilling fact – there are more clones out there. They are all genetically identical individuals who were planted in unsuspecting birth parents and nurtured in completely different circumstances. They have no idea who created them – or why – but they need to discover the reason in a hurry. An assassin is killing them, one by one.
"Tatiana possesses all the intensity, charm and range that this complex role requires," said Perry Simon, General Manager, Channels, BBC Worldwide America. "She has all the makings of a breakout star."
"We are extremely excited about Orphan Black, and as soon as we saw Tatiana perform, we knew she would be perfect," said Corrie Coe, Senior Vice-President, Independent Production, Bell Media. "Tatiana is an exceptionally fine actor, and her star is on the rise. We are confident that she will excel in this complex and compelling role, and that our audience will be fascinated by the chameleon qualities that she brings to the part."
"We have always recognized Tatiana as an extraordinary talent,"said David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, Co-Presidents of Temple Street Productions. "We have worked with her previously on Being Erica and cast her as the lead in The Nativity for the CBC / BBC. Tatiana embodies all the qualities this unique lead demands and we can't wait to see her bring the role of Sarah to life."
About Tatiana Maslany
Maslany has been acting for more than 15 years in film, television, theatre and radio. In that time, she has an incredibly impressive resume with leading roles in many features. Her starring role in Grown Up Movie Star opposite
Shawn Doyle competed at Sundance 2010 and garnered her the special jury prize for 'Breakout Star' at the festival as well as a Genie Award nomination. Her recent feature credits include The Vow, opposite
Rachel McAdams and
Channing Tatum;
Geoffrey Fletcher's directorial debut Violet and Daisy, opposite
Saoirse Ronan and
Alexis Bledel, which premiered at TIFF 2011; a lead role in Sean Garrity's improvisational feature Blood Pressure opposite
Jake Epstein; and Entitled with
Ray Liotta,
Victor Garber, and
Kevin Zegers. Some of Maslany's television credits include the upcoming World Without End, based on the novel by Ken Follett; her Gemini Award-nominated performance in The Nativity, directed by Coky Giedroyc for BBC One and CBC; Certain Prey opposite
Mark Harmon; as well as her Gemini Award-winning performances on Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures and Flashpoint. She was born in Regina, Saskatchewan and now lives in Toronto, Canada.
Orphan Black is produced by Temple Street Productions for BBC AMERICA and Bell Media's SPACE with Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier (Being Erica) serving as executive producers for Temple Street. The series is co-created and executive produced by Graeme Manson (Cube, Flashpoint) and
John Fawcett (Spartacus, The Secret Circle) with Manson also serving as writer and Fawcett as director.
Orphan Black is the latest series to join BBC AMERICA's stable of all-new original programming, along with scripted dramas Copper, and the upcoming competition series, Chef Race: U.K. vs. U.S., executive produced by
Jamie Oliver, premiering October 2at 9/8c.
