Tatiana Maslany: “Orphan Black built the actress I am today”

At 40, the Canadian actress is at the top of her game in Maximum Guaranteed Pleasure, a new thriller series from Apple, in which she plays a soccer mom entangled in an infernal spiral. Interview.

After revealing herself by playing around twenty different characters in Orphan Black, after surviving the bad buzz of She-Hulk, after having played in Star Trek and in the scathing horror films of Osgood Perkins, Tatiana Maslany returns to us in one of her best roles. In Maximum Guaranteed Pleasure, which begins tomorrow on Apple TV (and on myCanal in France), she plunges into an infernal spiral in the shoes of Paula, a divorced mother ready to do anything to keep custody of her daughter. But everything changes when the soccer mom who is rebuilding becomes the target of a cam boy with bad intentions. An intense thriller full of twists, which allows the radiant 40-year-old Canadian to express her entire palette. She confides in Première. Encounter.

FIRST: Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed… It’s a hell of a title! Almost a promise, right?
Tatiana Maslany: Yes, it’s not wrong (laughs)! And at the same time, it also implies that we’re never going to get there, because we’re promising something that’s impossible to achieve…

What attracted you to the series when you first read the script?
Paula. She makes decisions that I would never make myself. She’s impulsive, reckless, and it’s exciting. She fights for her daughter, and that gives the series all its emotional strength. Paula is a woman who tries to regain control of her life after her divorce, after losing everything. She must learn to walk again, so to speak, one step at a time. She completely rebuilt herself at the age of 40.

What do you have in common with Paula? Do you, like her, have a tendency to find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time?
No, not much actually… I’m a bit boring (laughs). I’m not as bold as her. If half of what happened to him happened to me, I think I’d curl up in a corner, paralyzed with fear! And at the same time, it’s not difficult to identify with Paula… even if we always have doubts about her true personality.

What is the maximum pleasure you get from this type of series?
It’s the interaction with others on set, the whole team: from casting to artistic direction. We all pulled in the same direction to give this feeling of chaos which was already evident in the script. We filmed in New York, which is a pretty special place to film. It’s chaotic, and it’s cool that this chaos is transcribed on screen.

You filmed Star Trek just before that, where you played Anisha Mir, also a devoted mother in Starfleet Academy. Were you able to tap into Anisha playing Paula?
Yes… But what do you want me to tell you? When you’re a 40-year-old actress, you often find yourself playing mothers, that’s how it is! (laughs) I don’t have any children personally, so I try to imagine what this maternal bond represents, each time. But it’s true that there is a form of rage that unites these two characters. Both Anisha and Paula are a little reckless, but for different reasons: Anisha wants to protect her son no matter what, while Paula can’t help but stick her nose everywhere.

Orphan Black ended almost 10 years ago. Looking back, do you feel that this experience shaped you?
But so much! It was a huge training ground for me, and also a huge playground. I was able to try things, dare extreme approaches with certain characters, while having the chance to know that science fiction could make everything stand up. It built the actress I am today. I learned a lot during Orphan Black. And at the same time, I also learned that it’s not bad to know how to take a break… to sleep on the weekend (laughs).

Who was your favorite incarnation in Orphan Black?
I like characters who change. Helena, in this sense, is undoubtedly the one who has evolved the most over the seasons. Initially, she is a cold and relentless killer, almost completely detached from reality. And in the end, she becomes the most maternal, the most loving character of all. And what’s more, she could be funny at times.

Is there a role or genre you would dream of doing today?
I would love to do more comedies, even romantic comedies. I played in a rom’com last year called Any Other Night (the film was not released in France, Editor’s note), and it was very cool. But it is not easy to answer this question. I like all genres, and I’m lucky: I’m offered a little bit of everything. I’m shooting a fairly humorous science fiction film called Green Bank, directed by Josh Ruben. It’s a slightly creepy film, with a very particular tone, and I can’t wait to show it.

Maximum Guaranteed Pleasure, season 1 in 10 episodes to watch on Apple TV from May 20, 2026 in France