Tatiana Maslany dishes on the upcoming 'Orphan Black' reunion

The long-awaited Sister Act sequel is finally happening . . . well, in the form of a “Sestra Act,” at least. Emmy-winning clone queen Tatiana Maslany helps organize an Orphan Black reunion with all of the “sestras,” and the scene-stealing cast to recreate two unforgettable season one episodes.Orphan Black is the latest fan favourite show to reunite under quarantine, following the casts of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Melrose Place, Parks and Recreation and even The Office. However, while the jury is out on whether or not the May 17 table read will include a hat-tip to the show’s famous Season 2 four-clone dance party scene, Tatiana Maslany sat down to chat with etalk (remotely) and told us that it promises to be the “very niche, specific thing which is going to be fun for [fans] to see.”“We're so excited to get to do it,” says Maslany. “I mean, our show has always been about family, and the fans have been our family even remotely, you know, so the thought of getting to do this with them is just so thrilling, and nervewracking and everything and I hope they enjoy it!

How is life in quarantine treating you?

I mean, it's... it's ok. It's tough. I think we're all going through it, but it's things like this, getting to create right now, which is really inspiring and exciting.

Are you happy about any aspect about being forced to stay home?

Yeah, it's really a reflective time, thinking about who we are outside of the context of all of the things we're normally so busy with and distracted by. It's definitely, like levelling in that way. And I've really found that to be really helpful. And also, like, last night... You know, my family's in Saskatchewan and my brother's in Toronto with his wife, and we play Pictionary over Skype. And it was just so fun. And you really do feel connected to people even when you're so far away.[video_embed id='1959335']RELATED: Shady Baby's candy challenge is all of us during quarantine[/video_embed]

When you look back on Orphan Black, what feelings do you have?

I mean, it was so interesting because the other day in preparation for this live read we did just a Zoom to kind of talk and catch up, and it was the first time that that group had ever been together again [since the show wrapped in 2017]. It just reminded me of how much fun we had, how free it was, how, you know, we just had like no idea that it would have the impact that it did and that people would still be interested even years later to see us do, like a live read. It's just, it's so cool, and Clone Club specifically has maintained this kind of bond internationally, you know, sharing fan art with each other or writing books about the science of Orphan Black, it's just really amazing to see it have these ripple effects.

In quarantine, does it feel like you’re seeking out family and those types of connections?

Yeah, I mean, just to have the idea, and then you know, we're going to put it into place, and we're going to do it on May 17th, and to know that Clone Club is going to be there with us, while we're doing it. It is amazing to find new ways to connect with each other, and family has always been a huge aspect of our show, and also of the fandom, and all of it, you know, "sestras" was the word Clone Club called each other based on one of the characters Helena saying "Sestra." So family and connection has been such an important aspect of that storytelling.

It's one thing to do a table read, it's another thing to do it as a fundraiser. And the cast has chosen to do it for the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. 

It's so important right now. LGBTQ people are disproportionately affected by the impact of COVID in terms of either, you know, either having to quarantine with family members who maybe aren't supportive or even violent, you know, loss of job, loss of income, stigma around the LGBTQ community in these times of difficulty, there's often a stigma against them, and all of that leads to deeply impacting the community in an awful way, and for us, you know, our fans were often LGBTQ or allies. We're deeply protective of our LGBTQ family and always had them in mind when we were filming and we were writing, and it's just really important to support them right now and so we want to give back the same way that they gave to us.

You picked some really great charities that have a big impact in Canada and internationally.

Well, CenterLink is an organization that helps LGBTQ community centres across the globe, so they have massive international reach. They not only help over 250 centres in Canada and the States, they also have reach to Puerto Rico and all over the world. It's really incredible how they can go into these smaller communities and help out. And then the other charity that we're working for is Sistering Toronto, which is a multis-ervice agency offering practical and emotional support to women and trans people from across Toronto who are homeless, precariously-housed and socially-isolated. Toronto is the place that we filmed so we thought it would be really important to give back to this community, and women specifically who are lacking in housing and safety right now [and] are just so impacted by this virus, and so we just wanted to make sure we were giving back to a smaller charity as well.

As you prepare to step back into that world and connect with those characters again, are certain characters easier to get into than others?

They're all hard to get back into! It's bizarre. Like, I was looking at the scripts, and I was like, 'Oh yeah,' trying to find the little physicalities that kind of would just lock me back in, which at the time were just so in my body and kind of just second nature. And now it's been a couple years and I've done other projects and I've felt those characters fading away. It's a bizarre blast from the past, for sure.

The episodes the cast are reading have really big LGBTQ moments. Are there any scenes that you're looking forward to redoing?

Yeah there are those iconic moments with Delphine for sure are really exciting to look back on you know, in the scripts, and I can't wait to feel them play out again. Because they were the beginning of the "Cophine" adventure and that relationship, so lines like the "Cold Turkey A******," which all the fans will know, you know, is a very niche specific thing which is going to be fun for them to see I'm sure, and then yeah, of course, Kathryn Alexandre my clone double is going to be playing opposite me, so to get to revisit Sarah and Helena, their first date, as well. It will be really fun!

When you announced you were doing the reunion on Instagram, Beanie Feldstein commented "CRYING." Have you ever been surprised by somebody that you've admired that confessed they loved the show?

Early on, Patton Oswalt was, like, a huge fan of our show, and talking about us on Twitter, and that was just nuts to me. Comedians are my favourite people on the planet, and the people I revere the most. So any time any of them are interested in it, it's always really exciting. Sarah Silverman, I think, said to Jordan [Gavaris], she saw him at like a restaurant and said to him, like, 'Don't talk, I don't want to know who you really are, I just have to like....' She just loves Felix so much that she didn't want to have that tainted. There have been some cool people.

You’re about to star in Perry Mason, a new HBO miniseries, which starts on June 21. What can you tell us about that?

Well, Perry Mason is... it's interesting because it's not actually, like, a remake, it's like an imagining of what happened before the series everyone is so familiar with so Perry is, Perry is not in the full throws of being a lawyer yet, so we're getting to know his origin story. And Matthew Rhys plays him and he's just phenomenal. I've never worked with an actor who is so tireless, and so joyful and playful and just set the bar so high in terms of creativity and like, and just being a good guy.

You’ve said that you are a fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race—how thrilled are you that Canada’s Drag Race is launching this summer?

[Judge] Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman is somebody I love so much, and he’s become a friend over the past few years, so to see him step into this role, I know he has so much reverence for Drag Race and so much love and admiration for drag queens. There’s nobody better to do this, and I’m always up for more Drag Race, so I’m very excited to see it!

When life gets back to something that resembles life before, what's the first thing you want to do?

I want to—oh my god—I want to go dancing! I want to be dancing at a club with just dancing everywhere. I can't wait for that. That's like the dream.[video_embed id='1959324']RELATED: Jeffery Bowyer-Chapman talks the queens of Canada's Drag Race[/video_embed]