Even for viewers addicted to Orphan Black the series is a difficult one to talk about but add into that the fact that no one wants to give away spoilers for the upcoming third season of the critically acclaimed BBC America series making it extremely difficult for cast members to discuss the show. Maria Doyle Kennedy (‘Mrs. S’) and Jordan Gavaris (‘Felix’) made the trip to WonderCon in Anaheim to try and do just that – talk about season three without accidentally revealing any spoilers.
Season three kicks off on April 18, 2015 at 9pm ET/PT on BBC America, and what Doyle Kennedy and Gavaris were able to tell us is that there is a season three and they’re both in it. Kidding aside, this upcoming season promises to be action-packed and darker in tone than either seasons one or two.
Over the course of the first two seasons, there’s been the possibility that audiences are being set up and that Felix is actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Asked about that possibility, Gavaris replied, “If it is something to worry about, I’m not aware of it. But, at the same time, we’ve also had many conversations where if one of us does turn out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing, we wouldn’t want to know. I wouldn’t want to know because then it would end up affecting how I’m… I would love having that revelation come later and getting to go back and say, ‘Oh my god, he was pretending this entire time.’ I don’t want to say that’s happening; I have no idea. As far as I know it’s not happening. But, it’s Orphan Black. I didn’t think we were going to have male clones at the end of season two, either.”
“I think that she always makes decisions from a really strong point,” said Doyle Kennedy, responding to a question about Mrs. S’ allegiances. “She doesn’t make them without really thinking them through. She does feel that sometimes the end does justify the means. She’s always done it from a place of protecting her family, initially. But the family itself has changed so much and some of the decisions maybe were not the best ones. I think you get to see another side of her which is that you get to see her be a bit vulnerable. You haven’t seen that before.
You get to see her nurturing or she’s tough, or she’s certainly bad-ass, she’s certainly able to wield a weapon and protect people. But I think you get to see her doubt herself, or question herself is a better thing. And I think that’s really interesting. It’s another interesting part to a complicated person. It’s not all a lighter shade or action. There’s doubt as well, so yeah, it was great.”
“I love that theme too of her, the idea that it’s not always what she does and how she operates isn’t always necessarily moral but she’s always trying to do the right thing,” added Gavaris. “The right thing for who we’re not entirely sure.”
Will we find out more about Mr. S and whether the couple ever had children? “I can tell you that you will learn more about Mr. S in season three, yeah, some more parts of how they got to where they are. More parts of the backstory are explained and looked at a little bit. I think that’s really interesting as well,” said Doyle Kennedy. “Sometimes it’s hard to understand why a person is or acts the way they are, but if you can have a look at where they’ve come from or some of the things that have been around, the way that they’re formed, their behavior becomes so much more understandable, doesn’t it? Immediately you can relate to those things. We do get to see some more of that. It’s great.”
So, given all the different aspects of Mrs. S’ personality, does Doyle Kennedy have a characteristic she really likes to play. Is it the bad-ass or this new vulnerability?
“I just like that she seems like she’s a real person. She seems like she’s complicated. She seems like she doesn’t always get it right. I think that’s one of her great strengths that she will try. She will take on anything and she’s not…it’s not that she’s not afraid but she’s most certainly not a quitter. She’s a survivor. I find that just really interesting. That’s probably our greatest quality as human beings that we can survive because we adapt and react to what’s around us so quickly, and so instinctively.
So, I think it’s amazing just to see it that she gets through. You’re not sure whether you love her or you hate her sometimes because what she does is not always good, you know? It’s not always bad either, but it’s not always good. I also think it’s good to see that she’s not always right. Even the bad stuff can actually be bad sometimes. It’s interesting.”
As for Mrs. S and Felix’s relationship, Gavaris says that in season three the relationship deepens. “I don’t know if better or worse. It’s an entirely new shade we haven’t seen yet,” explained Gavaris. “The complexities of the world I think have grown beyond any singular management. Like, Sarah can’t handle what’s happening with Leda and Castor and Dyad and everything. She can’t handle that on her own. I think there’s a lot more reliance on each other. No one is really taking care of everyone, everyone’s sort of taking care of each other. That was so great, so great to explore. To have scenes, like you’ve been talking about, there’s been growth in Felix, growth in Mrs. S in that she’s seeing her kids not really as children anymore but as autonomous adults.”
“I think that’s part of also doubting herself…not doubting herself but realizing that it’s not just her making decisions for small children who were really unable to contribute to those decisions because they’re so huge and so enormous, and their lives depend on those decisions. Now she has to recognize – and does, I think – that there are two adults and they need to be part of making the decisions upon which all of their lives depend,” said Doyle Kennedy. “I think she’s trying to adjust to that and trust them.
But also I think because we know each other better. I mean, it’s just a very small example but in terms of our physicality, we had one kind of tender moment in a scene and without even thinking about it I reached out and I grabbed Jordan’s face. I kind of grabbed his nose and touched his face, and just because we know each other so well now I’d be very comfortable to do that without saying to him beforehand, ‘Do you mind?'”
“There’s more play,” added Gavaris.
“More play,” confirmed Doyle Kennedy. “And more natural things like that have come just because we all know each other better as real people as well as the characters.”
– More Orphan Black interviews: Graeme Manson / Evelyne Brochu, Dylan Bruce, and Kristian Bruun
Watch the full interview with Maria Doyle Kennedy and Jordan Gavaris:
