Michelle Forbes Previews Mysterious New 'Orphan Black' Power Player

Orphan Black

may as well be retitled Unsolved Mysteries, since the BBC America show is stuffed full of unanswered questions.

Like, how did the cloning experiment — which produced Sarah, Alison, Cosima, Helena, and others (all played by Tatiana Maslany) — get started? And just who was involved? And how does the DYAD Institute, a scientific corporation, figure into everything?

[Related: How ‘Orphan Black’s’ Hair and Makeup Wizards Split One Actress Into Five (Very Distinct) Clones]

Maybe we’ll get some answers from Michelle Forbes, who plays Marion Bowles. The veteran actress — you’ve seen her in True Blood, Battlestar Galactica, and many, many other shows — is appearing in several episodes of this final stretch of Orphan Black Season 2, and her character, Marion, is a power player with deep ties.

Yahoo TV chatted with Forbes, who was on the Berlin set of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, in which she plays Lt. Jackson, about her key Orphan Black character.

What can you tell us about Marion?
She’s very mysterious. She is a high-powered player in the DYAD. We’re not quite sure in what capacity. That will be revealed, slowly, weirdly, as this show does. And she has very interesting motives for what she does. She’s a fascinating women.

We’ve learned a bit more about DYAD this year. Will we find out how Marion is involved with it?
That will be revealed. Her position is yet to be revealed. Her motives to be so deeply involved with the clones is to be revealed. But loyalties twist and turn as we move forward. What you think will be happening is not what will be happening.

She must work closely with Rachel and Dr. Leekie.
They do work closely together. Their reasons for working closely together — I’m sorry to be so vague; it hurts me, as I’m sure it hurts you — that will be revealed. Their motives are different, and yet at the same time, in conjunction with each other.

[Related: 'Orphan Black's' Hot Paul Says '50 Shades of Rachel' Scene Had the 'Right Mixture of Hot and Creepy']

So far, it seems there are a lot of politics at play in DYAD. Does this last part of the season delve into that?
Absolutely. We will find out more about the politics involved. We’ll find out more about the motives of everybody involved with DYAD. Marion has a motive that is revealed later in this season.

Is Marion the new villain of this season?
No, no, I wouldn’t say that. Motives are odd. People’s motives… it’s all about perspective, isn’t it? Someone’s motives for science, in this situation, are both good and bad. It’s personal. It’s almost subjective and objective. I was quite happy to find out, for Marion, that it was subjective as well.

Were you a fan of the show before coming on board?
I was a fan by hearsay. Meaning that, so many people I know were raving about the show, especially friends of mine who are respected journalists who just about fainted when I told them I was going to be a part of it. But I hadn’t seen it, just because I hadn’t had the time. When they asked me to be a part of the show, I went and I watched the first season and, thank God, my instincts kicked in, and I just said, “Yes, of course!” When I saw the first season, I was so thrilled and overjoyed, because it’s one of the best things I’ve seen on television in a long time. It’s completely wonderful and odd and weird and funny and really sophisticated in its intellect. It’s deceptive, because there’s so much humor as well. So many shows that are complex and smart, oftentimes they lose their humor, and there’s so much humor in this.

[Related: 'Orphan Black' Postmortem: Kira's Father Is Almost Certainly Hiding Something]

How was it working with Tatiana?
Oh, you know, whatever! I wish she were a bit more talented and gifted, and I wish she were a bit more of a hard worker. She’ll catch up. [Laughs.] She is an absolute gem. She’s magic. You’d never know that she’s a genius, because she’s so humble. The best part of Tatiana is watching her in between takes, just playing her ukulele and being so sweet, while the rest of us have steam coming out of our ears trying to figure out what’s going on.

Is there a clone you wish Marion had interaction with?
Alison! Exclamation point, exclamation point, exclamation point! Alison is my favorite. She is so out of her mind; she is such a nut bird. But all of them… I am in awe of that girl and in awe of every single character she’s created.

As the season comes to a close, will we get more answers? Or more questions?
I gotta tell you, I think so. And that’s not just because I’m involved with it. I’m speaking more as an audience member than I am as an actor. Yes, it just deepens and it broadens and it twists your mind. You find yourself laughing as it’s twisting your mind. It’s what every [piece of] good writing should do — just keep you wanting to turn that page. Whenever you think you know what’s coming next, it ain’t that. When you think you’re going right, you’re going left, and vice versa. It’s awesome. They’re out of their minds, but they’re awesome.

[Related: The First Official Glimpse of Julianne Moore as President Coin in ‘Mockingjay’]

You’re currently filming The Hunger Games. How is that experience going?
It’s been good! It’s been going on since January. Where are we now? We’re almost in June, although it feels like winter here in Berlin right now. We’ve been through five different weather seasons, in Atlanta and in Paris and now in Berlin. So, it feels like we’ve been shooting it for five years. It’s been awesome, and it’s an awesome group of people. We’ve had adventures all around the globe.

Your character, Lt. Jackson, has some battle scenes with Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence). Were those intense to shoot?
Um, yeah, they’re pretty intense. [Laughs.] And I have the MRIs and the bruises to prove it. [Laughs.] In Paris, we were shooting at this one location that was so dangerous, and so many of us got injured. I’ve been staying in Berlin with one of my fellow actors, and he fell down out of nowhere, just tripped over something, and he was bloody again. And it was like, “Oh, my God, The Hunger Games really is the Hunger Games.

Orphan Black airs Saturdays at 9 p.m. on BBC America.