This post contains NO spoilers from the season 2 premier episode of Orphan Black. First rule of clone club: What happens in clone club stays in clone club.

Thursday, April 17, BBC America held an advance screening of the first episode of Orphan Black season 2 at Sunshine Cinema in New York City, especially for fans, aka “clone club,” who were lined up around the block for hours. The first girl in line, Katie, had been there for 20 hours. Only the first 300 people got into the event. Afterward, some of the cast and creators joined the audience for a Q&A. In attendance were writer Graeme Manson, director John Fawcett, and actors Jordan Gavaris (Felix), Maria Doyle Kennedy (Mrs. S.), and Evelyne Brochu (Delphine). Here’s some of what they had to say…

Who created whom?

Graeme Manson created Cosima. “I’m from Vancouver,” he says. “You never see hippies on TV.” He wanted a Berkeley, smart hippie. But it was Tat [Tatiana Maslany] who brought the “talking hands” and the glasses. She wore horned-rimmed glasses to the audition, and they knew instantly that Cosima had to wear glasses.

John Fawcett created Alison. Despite Graeme’s protest, John wanted a suburban clone because he’s from suburbia and knows that it’s just inherently funny. He based Alison partially on his sister, and lines like “Fiddlesticks” come from Graeme’s mother.

Twin clones

John and Graeme decided to make Sarah and Helaina twins rather than clones of each other because they were fascinated by the differences between clones who grew in separate mothers vs. ones who grew up in the same womb.

When we hit on twin clones, we were like [Beavis & Butthead laugh].

Graeme Manson

Felix

Jordan Garavis plays Sarah’s adopted brother, Felix. This season, he’s focused on making Felix a more multi-faceted person. Jordan says that after reading a lot of bad pilots, Orphan Black jumped out at him because by page 5, you already had completely developed characters, but he figured he wouldn’t get the part because he’s so young (He’s currently 24). Jordan’s favorite line is “Does your daddy have a drinks trolley?” The line “Fetch me something gay” was an improvised line. He also admitted that he’s friends with Jeff, the visual effects guy on the show because they grew up together. He lived on Jordan’s street.

Delphine

Evelyne Brochu plays Delphine, Cosima’s girlfriend and monitor. Can we trust her? Is she good or bad? Evelyn likes playing Delphine because she’s very human and therefore a paradoxical person, full of contradictions, just like anyone. What drew Evelyne to the script was that this is a show with strong female characters who are not validated by their male counterparts.

Tatiana [Maslany] is the best living actor in the world.

Evelyn Brochu

Rachel

In the finale of the last season, we met another clone, Rachel. She seems up to no good, but what’s her deal, really? The creators say that season two is a “slow peel of what makes Rachel tick.” Contrary to what the new OB posters might suggest, they do nothing with Tat’s eyes. She doesn’t wear contacts. It’s just that sometimes her eyes look green and sometimes brown. To bed, conspiracy theorists.

Mrs. S

Maria Doyle Kennedy plays Sarah’s foster mother, Mrs. S. The creators say that the reason Mrs. S and Sarah fight so often is because they are so much alike. They both have a strong moral compass, even if that compass might not always be pointed in exactly the right direction. Maria likes playing her because she’s a character who is neither one thing or the other, she’s not an archetype. John told Maria from the beginning that Mrs. S is a Patti Smith-like character. Season 2 “digs into Mrs. S’s rebel past.”

Check out OBTumblr for awesome photographs from the clone club premier! Watch for a season 2 premier review from me following the BBC America premier this Saturday, and check out my review of season 1.

