Three’s Company
Ari Millen’s ‘ Orphan’ triple play
Bynow, Ari Millen was supposed to be a dead man.
When the actor joined the cast of “Orphan Black” last year, as the cult follower Mark, “They [ originally] told me Iwas going to die in Episode6,” he tells The Post.
Instead, the finale of the hit scifi show about awoman ( played by Tatiana Maslany) who discovers she’s part of a clone experiment revealed there was an entire other clone experiment— all stemming from Mark.
So not only would his character not be dying, but Millen would be playing three more roles.
“[ Thatwas] pretty overwhelming,” he says. “Actually, I’m still coming to grips with it now.”
He’d better hurry— because a lotmore attention is headed hisway as the Season 3premiere of “Orphan Black” kicks off this Saturday on BBC America ( 9 p. m.).
Fans of the show will be dying to unravel the mystery of Mark’s three “brothers”: Seth, the mustached muscle; Miller, a soldier with a prosthetic leg; and Rudy, an unhinged guy sporting a serious facial scar.
Millen, 33, won’t pick a favorite, but he is happy not to have to traffic in the show’s scientific explanations a la Maslany’s brainy clone, Cosima.
“I’m thankful that I don’t have to do any five- syllablewords,” he says with a laugh.
Over the past fewyears, Millen — an Ontario native who lives with his fiancée, actress Kassandra Santos, in Toronto— paid the bills as a cater- waiterwhile booking guest roles on US shows including ABC’s “Rookie Blue” and The CW’s “Reign.”
“Orphan Black” finally afforded him the opportunity to leave such side jobs behind, while also giving him an opportunity most actors can only dream of: playing multiple parts in one scene.
“Doing the technical stuff came more naturally than Iwas expecting,” Millen says. “What I found difficult was remembering that I had to plan out both sides of the scene— sometimes forgetting that, you know, in six hours I’m going to have to be on the other side, talking tomyself.”
Millen has two films coming up, and beyond that, he’s hoping his future holds a diversity of roles— and one more thing: “Not to have to go back to cater waiting,” he says.