In the premiere episode of Orphan Black’s third season, which aired Saturday night on BBC America, the show’s clone-playing star, Tatiana Maslany, pulled off an acting hat trick that was almost bewildering in its execution. With minimal spoilers we’ll explain.

In the episode, Dr. Delphine Cormier (Évelyne Brochu) seeks out Sarah (Maslany) to help solve a problem at the as-evil-as-it-sounds Dyad Institute. Delphine needs Sarah to step in for her clone sister, Rachel (also Maslany), who is in the hospital and can’t meet-and-greet a visiting supervisor. The only problem with the plan is that Rachel is supposed to be incarcerated at Dyad and recovering from a forced operation and the visitor will want to see her as well. The solution: conscript Alison, another clone, also played by Maslany, to cover for Sarah.

Confused? In short, in a scene with five characters, Maslany plays three of them. But she’s not just playing them, she’s playing one character playing another character—Alison’s uptightness bleeds into Sarah’s wildness, and Sarah’s anger seeps into Rachel’s corporate polish. It’s like the acting equivalent of a matryoshka doll, and Maslany pulls it off effortlessly.

VF Hollywood talked to Maslany about what went in to that scene, her background in improv, and why she still takes acting classes.

VF Hollywood: How did the scene in which Sarah plays Rachel and Alison plays Sarah come about?

Tatiana Maslany: It was the first time we had done that sort of double-clone acting session. It was super fun. Dave Frazee was directing the episode, and he and I talked a lot about not planning anything and seeing how it sort of fell off the truck. We just wanted to see how Sarah might play Rachel in that moment and how Alison might play Sarah in that moment. Just letting it be very messy and not premeditated in any way. I think that leaves room for a lot of mistakes and slips and surprises. That way he and I are surprised by it. It was really fun and disorienting.

Does your background in improv help you just go with the flow on scenes like that?

Improv definitely lets me trust that sense of not knowing, because when you step on stage as an improviser, you have no plan. There’s no plan, no safety net. That’s sort of the joy of it and the electricity of it. Getting to do that on screen in this way is really nice, because so often things are so plotted out or blocked or heavily rehearsed, and you don’t have that sense of being on the edge of total failure, which is an exciting place to play from. I definitely think improv set me up for that and helped me be at peace with that feeling a bit more than I might normally be.

How does it work playing three characters at once?

That to me is the most exciting work to do because it’s so layered. It’s uncharted territory. It doesn’t feel like something I’ve ever done before. It’s really engaging to me in terms of the work that goes into it. I am really lucky to be surrounded by actors who are generous and supportive and don’t get bored by the fact that they kind of have to do the same thing over and over again, while I’m figuring this thing out and we’re doing this kind of technical thing over and over again. I think there’s a real team mentality to it, which makes it easy and fun to do.

Aside from the technical aspects, as an actor how do you make it work?