In his most challenging and rewarding role to date, Orphan Black’s Ari Millen said the next season of the Canadian science fiction show will keep viewers guessing.
Having played the role of Mark Rollins, a religious assassin who was tasked with murdering female clones of Project Leda, the second season finale revealed that his character is a male clone, created as part of Project Castor.
“Moving forward, I think the season premier picks up minutes later from that, and we will continue to explore the plotline of what is Project Castor, how are they involved in the overall mystery with Project Leda and the rest of the conspiracy,” said Millen, a 33-year-old Kingston native.
Orphan Black, which stars Tatiana Maslany as Sarah Manning, is about a woman who assumes the identity of one of her clones after witnessing the suicide of one of them.
She learns that she is a clone, one of many living throughout North America and Europe, and that someone is plotting to kill her and the others.
The series, which will begin airing its third season on April 18, raises issues about the moral and ethical implications of human cloning.
“I guess the biggest thing is the theme of family and the importance of family, and in this season more than ever, it will become more important,” said Millen, who now plays four roles as Project Castor clones Mark, Rudy, Seth and Miller.
“The Castor boys are going to be gunning hard for Sarah and the Leda family and making life difficult for them.”
In an interview with The CJN, Millen, who grew up as a member of Kingston’s Jewish community, said landing a regular gig on an award-winning Toronto-based TV show is a dream – one he’s been working toward since he was a teenager.
“Like a lot of kids in Canada, I grew up being athletic, and hockey was a big part of my life and I wanted to be in the NHL. But if you’re not in the junior system by 15 or 16, it’s probably not going to happen for you. That’s when I started shifting gears and tried to figure out what I wanted to do,” he said.
“Acting was something I had always kind of done. Fooling around with my friends’ video camera or school plays, but I guess when it came to the time to go to university, I thought, what am I going to do?”
He applied to the theatre acting program at Ryerson University, and has been landing roles since he graduated from the program in 2007.
One of his first roles was a part in an episode of the television series ReGenesis, and he later won small roles in other TV shows including Nikita and Rookie Blue.
But his role on Orphan Black, which airs on Space in Canada and BBC America in the United States, has been the most challenging.
“This has probably been the most difficult thing I’ve ever done and the most rewarding, and certainly, going to set every day is always exciting. It was a great season and I’m very excited for everyone to see it,” he said.
He said he’s grateful he’s able to “tell stories I’m proud of and to be able to provide for my family while doing what I want to be doing. That is the ultimate success as far as I’m concerned,” said Millen, who is expecting his first child with his fiancée later this year.
“But it’s a tough business, and it’s hard to make a living. It wasn’t until this year, this season specifically, that I was able to only do acting to pay my bills.”
As for other roles, Millen can also be seen in a Canadian independent film called Hunter’s Moon, which he described as “a werewolf movie meets Scooby Doo.”