She-Hulk and Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany talks harnessing fears and the environmental message of her new animated film, Butterfly Tale.
The Big Issue: Could you introduce us to Jennifer, your character in Butterfly Tale?
Tatiana Maslany: Jennifer is a monarch butterfly who is setting off on the great migration from southern Canada to Mexico. But the problem is she is afraid of heights. We see her deal with that as the story goes on.
Are there aspects of the story and the character that you could relate to?
I loved the idea of her being someone who looks to be on top of everything, and is sort of prickly, but on the inside is little, soft and fearful – afraid of the very thing she is built to do.
Is that how you could describe yourself? Tough on the outside, soft on the inside?
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Oh, for sure, totally. I feel like performers can relate to that. I still have stage fright, which is such a wild thing after 30 years of acting. But that fear can also be the thing that charges you and makes performing so electric.
Have you learned how to harness that fear? Please share your tips!
First off, knowing that fear is not necessarily the worst thing to feel, that it’s understandable. Also just breathing is a big thing for me. When you feel that fear you jump up into your head. And then you freeze. I get cold, I get shaky, all of that. Trying to breathe into your body is probably a good way to do it. This works sometimes, it does not work all the time.
You have a background in improv. Surely that’s where you’d get the worst kind of stage fright?
That’s where I felt the stage fright most acutely. I still get nervous if I do improv but there’s something about the joy of being on stage and creating with other people, especially when you trust them. It’s such a contradictory thing, but it is the biggest thrill. And doing it with an audience who’s also not sure, and you’re all building something together. It’s very collective and exciting.
Was there a time in your life where you learned that a difference was actually a strength?
Absolutely. Simply as an actor who came to LA from Regina, Saskatchewan and who didn’t have the polish or the look or the blah blah blah of what LA wanted. I didn’t fit. And I was so lucky I got Orphan Black where I could express the weirdest side of me. I got to really play and do what I want to do as an actor. Difference being something that can allow you to see things differently. That’s such a cliché but seeing things from a unique perspective actually allows you to problem solve a different way.
Is being different essential in your industry when you have to stand out from the crowd?
I don’t feel like everybody’s allowed to do that. You look at like somebody like Willem Defoe, who is such a character and is so beloved for who he is and how strange he is. The industry is very literal in so many ways. There’s potential for more interesting points of view and more interesting characters than sometimes we’re allowed to do. It’s an art form about humanity and stories. Why would you want the same people to be playing those stories?
I feel like it alerted me to the migration of monarch butterflies – what that is, how important that is and how threatened that is. I’m very aware of climate change. In the movie, it’s threaded through. There are weather patterns upsetting their trajectory and that’s climate change. I hope kids are able to discuss it with their parents or get curious about it. The film really makes you empathise with these little creatures that are just doing the thing that they were born to do. That’s happening all over. That’s why flowers are blooming and that’s why we get fruit. It’s magical and it’s totally real.
Are kids more in tune to the wonders of the natural world while adults are too self-obsessed?
I think kids are definitely more in tune with that stuff. And I don’t think it’s an accident that we are made to not notice these things anymore. We know what’s happening, but there are so many things built to distract and to absolve fossil fuel companies of their absolute responsibility in it. There are massive companies that need to be held accountable. It is overwhelming, and that overwhelm is integral to them continuing to do what they do and erode the planet. I’m hoping that kids are more aware, more awake than we are.
