‘Orphan Black’ Season 3 Evelyne Brochu, Kristian Bruun, and Dylan Bruce Interview

Orphan Black Season 3 Kristian Bruun, Evelyne Brochu, and Dylan Bruce Interview
Kristian Bruun, Evelyne Brochu, and Dylan Bruce from ‘Orphan Black’ at WonderCon (Photos © Richard Chavez)

Evelyne Brochu, Dylan Bruce, and Kristian Bruun joined their fellow Orphan Black cast members Maria Doyle Kennedy and Jordan Gavaris along with series co-creator/writer Graeme Manson at the 2015 WonderCon in Anaheim to discuss season three of the critically acclaimed (and highly addictive) sci-fi series. And while Brochu, Bruce, and Bruun were fun to talk to, they confessed to walking on eggshells when it came to answering questions. The list of what they were not allowed to talk about was a lengthy one according to Bruce, however there were still enough juicy tidbits divulged about season three to make any Orphan Black fan happy.

Can you clarify Delphine’s motivations?

Evelyne Brochu: “I think the fun thing about Delphine this season is that her motivations have to be hidden. She has a plan, she made a promise, she’s going to do a lot of power plays that we’re not necessarily going to understand. But I think we can trust… There’s one moment when Cosima leaves and she’s alone, and I think that there’s a lot when you’re alone is when you’re the most truthful as a human being. So I think we can trust that that’s the true feeling. I don’t think she’s happy with having to make that radical move, but I think she needs to make it. What’s going to be interesting is how does that unfold. Why does she need to make it? What’s happening? Who’s holding the strings behind her? What strings is she trying to pull making these radical moves? So it’s going to be a heartbreaking season in that sense. Sometimes when you want something you have to give something up for the good of what you’re going for.”

What else are you allowed to say about season three?

Kristian Bruun: “I can tell you that this season is the most action-packed one yet, for sure. People ask me, ‘Describe the season in one word,’ and I always say, ‘Action.’ Each season has a different feeling to it, what’s going on, how much information they know, and this season we are so chock-full of characters. We’ve got Project Leda, Project Castor, a war really is brewing. We have so many characters, so many auxiliary characters, so many clones that we explore everybody. All of our stories get deeper and more fleshed out as we discover more. We get more answers throughout the whole season. It’s so exciting. Every episode is exciting. There’s no lagging or anything like that. There’s no time for that. There’s just so much story and so many of us, and we all get our due time.”

Evelyne Brochu: “I think my word would be danger.”

Dylan Bruce: “Violent. This season’s very violent, but not excessively. It’s all violence that’s necessary to the story.”

Kristian Bruun: “Necessary roughness.”

Dylan Bruce: [Laughing] “Necessary roughness. It’s a violent season. It’s shocking, some of the stuff that happens. Truly, truly shocking.”

Kristian Bruun: “It’s a lot more emotional and raw.”

Dylan Bruce: “Oh yeah, for sure.”

Did anyone of you have that moment while reading the scripts where you just didn’t see something coming?

Dylan Bruce: “For sure.”

Kristian Bruun: “Almost every episode, because that’s the first time we get to see it is when a script comes through in our email. Usually when it does I know I have to drop everything and just start reading it right away to see what happens. Almost every episode there’s a holy sh*t moment. It’s so awesome.”

Dylan Bruce: “My favorite season – and that’s saying a lot.”

Kristian Bruun: “Yeah, this is the one that I’m most excited about in a sense. It’s just so exciting. Like, for us we read the script…I read it twice: when we get it in an email and then when we sit around as a cast. Before we shoot each episode we do a cast read-through. And then I forget about everything else and just focus on the scenes that I’m in because I don’t want to know, I don’t want to remember what happens because I want to experience it again.”

Dylan Bruce: “Because we’re all fans, too. I don’t like watching the episodes before they hit the air. It’s fun to watch it as it comes out.”

What was Donnie and Alison’s courtship like?

Kristian Bruun: “Well, we’re going to see that in the comic book, actually. We’re going to be exploring that in issue #3 of the Orphan Black comic book. You’re going to see Donnie and Alison how they meet and some scenes from college – from what I’ve been told. I haven’t actually read it yet. I can’t wait to. So, we’ll explore that in that mode. What you’ll see now is probably closer to what their relationship was like when they got married and everything was on point, before they were kind of fighting. In season one it was very much a bickering couple that was not connecting at all. In season two they find that at the end. So for the first time we kind of see them in like a second honeymoon mode. They’re working as a team, and Team Hendrix is a real force to be reckoned with in the suburbs. It’s fun to explore that.”

Tone-wise, then is it darker than in previous seasons?

Dylan Bruce: “Yes.”

Kristian Bruun: “Because the stakes are higher and it’s about family. On every level the show’s about family.”

Dylan Bruce: “And the Castor boys are so dangerous, too. The military side of things is pretty wild and that’s where I am. Yeah, that’s where the darkness really comes in.”

Kristian Bruun: “Everybody’s hearts are exposed.”

Evelyne Brochu: “I think just like in real life sometimes truth can be dangerous. And the closer you are to it, the closer you are to danger. So I feel like if the show’s a spiral, if it started [spiraling down], now we’re getting closer to the center. So it’s more and more fast-paced and more dangerous for all of the characters. Everyone is in danger. I think when you’re in danger, you rise up to the challenge and you react in ways that you haven’t before. And so that’s why maybe there’s a dark side that will be revealed of you that was there – that was always there, but you haven’t shown because the situation is different.”


Dylan Bruce: “I’m so excited for all of you to see this season! Seriously, it’s so good.”

Kristian Bruun: “This is getting me pumped up.”

Dylan Bruce: “Honestly, my heart’s starting to [beat faster].”

Do you have favorite clones?

Kristian Bruun: “Totally. I mean I actually haven’t seen Ari Millen’s stuff yet with the Castor clones.”

Dylan Bruce: “He’s awesome.”

Kristian Bruun: “I can’t wait to see it on screen for the first time. I’ve been on set and everything. But in terms of last season, Rachel is my favorite. She was so, so fascinating.”

Dylan Bruce: “I love [Delphine] and Cosima. I think they’re fantastic together. But for some reason I love the comedy aspect as well of Donnie and Alison. Whenever Donnie and Alison are on the screen I love it.”

Evelyne Brochu: “I’m a Cosima fan. I’ve always been. Team Cosima. I’ve got to be.”

Dylan, can you talk about Paul’s big changes from boyfriend and monitor to military man of mystery?

Dylan Bruce: “He’s in his element so he’s definitely more comfortable being himself. He kicks some serious butt this year, I’ll say that much. […]He gets to show his true colors. He’s not playing the double agent anymore. It’s really fun for me to explore the character this year and just to really dive head-first into what he’s doing in working with the Castor boys and being the Major that he is.”

Kristian Bruun: “Oh god, Major Dierden. He’s pulling rank.”

Dylan Bruce: [Laughing] “I know. I always pull rank.”

So everybody has to salute you when they come on set now?

Dylan Bruce: “Of course. I’m very Daniel Day-Lewis that way.”

Kristian Bruun: “He makes me call him Sir or Major Dierden all the time.”

Is there a clone you’d like to work with?

Kristian Bruun: “I don’t even want to answer that question. I don’t even know where to start.”

Evelyne Brochu: “I think me and Helena would have a good hair-off.”

Dylan Bruce: “I worked with Helena this year so that was like a dream come true for me.”

Kristian Bruun: “That sounds awesome.”

Dylan Bruce: “It was awesome. I shared some time with Helena.”

Did you get to dance with all of them?

Dylan Bruce: “I wish because I kind of have moves. We were talking about doing a dance-off, right?”

Kristian Bruun: “He doesn’t have moves. He says he has moves.”

Dylan Bruce: “I’m like Zoolander – I can’t turn left.”

Kristian Bruun: “But his blue steel is amazing.”

– BBC America’s Orphan Black season three premieres on April 18, 2015 at 9pm ET/PT –

– More Orphan Black Interviews: Graeme Manson / Maria Doyle Kennedy and Jordan Gavaris

Watch the full interview: