Co-creators John Fawcett and Graeme Manson say fans can expect answers in season 3 and new 'element of the boys against the girls.'
- Jun 23, 2014
AceShowbiz - "Orphan Black" wrapped up season 2 with a big twist that will surely change the game in the upcoming season. In various interviews after the season finale, co-creators John Fawcett and Graeme Manson talk about when and how they came up with the idea of [SPOILER ALERT!] male clones.
"Since near the end of last season and really over the break between Season 1 and Season 2," Manson tells TVLine. "We really liked the idea of a male clone opening up an entirely new facet of this conspiracy. We knew that there were two different aspects to the conspiracy. One was the Project Leda faction, and the other was the Project Castor faction."
On choosing Mark, who was killed off earlier in the season, as the male clone, Fawcett explains to E! News, "We talked about Cal, we talked about Felix, we talked about Paul, we talked about everybody. Anybody that was a male on our show was looked over and we even talked about bringing in somebody brand new. And really, to be honest, we love Ari Millen and we cast him in the role of Prolethean Mark and at the beginning that character, actually was scheduled to die."
He adds, "...but he just blew our minds over and over with all of these great scenes and we just say all this great potential in that character and it really wasn't to much later that we decided to definitely not kill him and in fact use him as the male clone that we introduced. And it's an interesting bookend."
Manson chimes in, "The truth is is that Ari Millen really impressed us with the work he did with Mark's character. He can be really creepy, and yet, he can show this heart." He says that lead star Tatiana Maslany "100 percent" supported the idea of Mark as the male clone, recalling, "Unequivocally, she said, 'He's a great actor. That's a great idea.' "
In a separate interview with Entertainment Weekly, Maslany echoes Manson's statement. "I was so, so, so excited," she says about the clone twist. Praising Millen, she continues, "He has so much commitment and so much depth and is so compelling to watch on camera. So when they came to me with that idea of having Ari play those characters I was like, 'Oh my God! Absolutely! It would be silly not to mine his talent. He is so fantastic.' "
Manson says how the introduction of the male clones affects the storyline is "yet to be determined," but Fawcett says "at the moment, it seems that the Project Leda, that created female clones, and the Project Castor that created male clones are competing projects with no idea about one another "
When asked about the fate of several other characters, the two masterminds behind the hit drama keep their lips sealed. "I don't know," Fawcett says when asked what happens to Rachel after getting stabbed in the eye with a pencil. He coyly adds, "I kind of like rocking an eye patch. Also, that pencil went pretty deep so Rachel's future is questionable."
As for where Helena, who was kidnapped, is being sent, Manson says, "Don't know. We'll have to wait and see," while Fawcett jokingly answers, "The Death Star."
The two promise the answers will be provided in season 3, with Fawcett saying, "I think we're going to see obviously some of the new things we've set in motion, like Project Castor, with our male clones, and with the hope that the science with the synthetic sequences may aid us in our final answers. These are all things that are going to kind of be springboards for the next season."
Manson adds, "I think the fans can look forward to sort of the same fast-paced show that you watch on the edge of your seat, and now we've got this added element of the boys against the girls."
