Maslany transitions from TV clone to a real person
TORONTO — After juggling the nuances of numerous clones on TV’s Orphan Black, Emmy winner Tatiana Maslany tried to strike a different balance for the Boston Marathon bombing drama Stronger.
The Regina-raised actor plays Erin Hurley, a real person who helped her boyfriend Jeff Bauman through physical therapy and drinking problems after he lost his legs in the explosion more than four years ago.
Preparing for the part left her confronting the “emotional tricky territory” of Hurley’s actual life, she said, and deciding how to navigate between truth and interpretation.
Lead actor Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays Bauman in the film, was experiencing similar apprehension about his role in the film, opening Friday.
“Jake often talks about this fraudulent feeling because we’re only interpreting a story that somebody actually went through,” she said in an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month.
“[But] I wasn’t seeking to do an impression of her ... There’s a point where it’s about the script as opposed to paying homage to the real people.”
Stronger is based on Bauman’s 2014 memoir, which recounts the battle with his own demons while the public is painting him as a hero. Hurley is present throughout much of the tumult, often serving as Bauman’s emotional support or a staggering dose of reality.
Many of the film’s most intense moments play out between Gyllenhaal and Maslany as she pressures him to focus on his recovery, while he spirals into alcoholism and ignores his post-traumatic stress disorder.
Gyllenhall has been widely touted as one of the contenders for this year’s best actor race.
Maslany smiles when asked about the awards buzz. She says she can’t help but draw parallels with the movie, where the word “hero” is tossed around by outsiders who knew little about what happened when the spotlight turned off.
“The film we’re doing talks about all that noise on the outside,” she said. “There’s this weird duality to the two things.”