When makeup artist Stephen Lynch heard that Tatiana Maslany had been hired to star in the Canadian sci-fi series Orphan Black, which centers on a single mother who discovers she is one of a dozen (and counting!) clones, he was dubious. Not because of Maslany’s acting ability—Lynch had worked with the talented actress before and was confident in her skills. But because he would have to cosmetically transform Maslany into a dozen different characters with distinct looks. And since the actress has dark hair, dark eyebrows, and an olive complexion, the makeup artist simply did not think that she would be that “changeable”—especially given that the show’s budget prohibits prosthetics.

“An albino would have been my dream face,” Lynch laughs on a recent phone call. “Because the fairer the person is, and the lighter their complexion and their brows and hair, it’s very easy to disguise them.” Once he got Maslany in the makeup chair, however, Lynch admits that his first instinct was “blissfully incorrect.” “Tatiana is so remarkable and chameleon-like,” Lynch says. “She does what she does and then takes my thing and [hairstylist] Sandy Sokolowski’s thing, and she completely becomes this other person.”

Before she could completely channel her character Sarah Manning and the genetic sisters she never knew she had, Lynch and Sokolowski had to create each clone’s look. This meant culling inspiration, mocking up materials to show producers for approval, and then introducing each look to Maslany. Sokolowski, who custom creates Orphan Black’s wigs himself, even has a ritual for introducing an actor to his or her hairpiece. “When you put a wig on an actor, they go, ‘Oh my God.’ And you can tell the reaction is negative. I always walk away and start to do a few things around the trailer. It’s on purpose so they can look at themselves for at least 90 seconds, so at least the wig can grow on them.’”

As if there weren’t enough complicated variables with this project, Lynch and Sokolowski only have between 30 and 45 minutes to get Maslany into cosmetic character. And given the number of clones Maslany plays, Lynch and Sokolowski may have to switch her hair and makeup up to four times a day—an exhausting process especially for the actress’s skin. “That poor girl,” Lynch says. “Sometimes scrubbing off [the clone] Helena leaves her a little bit raw. There is nothing you can do about that, though, you have to make it work. If it is really late, like three A.M., and her skin and eyes have just had it, I will try to figure out a way to cheat so that I can sometimes paint on top of the old makeup.”

What makes Maslany’s work even more impressive is that on top of playing multiple clones—each with their own identifiable personalities, quirks, and accents—she also plays clones imitating other clones. These especially awe-inspiring scenes require Maslany to layer clone personalities in a way that is realistic for viewers, and Lynch and Sokolowski have to find ways to similarly layer the hair and makeup ever so subtly.

“Of everything we’re doing with the show, that is the single hardest and the single most successful thing we’ve done,” Sokolowski tells us. “We look at simple personality traits and certain signature pieces of the hair or makeup, from the clone we are going from to the clone we are going to. We have to layer the looks enough to give [viewers] an idea that one clone is impersonating another without making it a joke or too obvious. You want viewers to have that moment of discovery when they realize that that the clone is not who she says she is. In the season ahead, you will see a lot of that.”