Tatiana Maslany talks getting messy in Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed

Tatiana Maslany has built a career on pulling off the impossible. In Orphan Black, viewers watched her play more than 17 distinct clones with such precision and versatility that she won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2016.

She followed that by breaking the fourth wall as a 6-foot-7 green lawyer in Marvel’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Now, Maslany is tackling a role that might actually be far more terrifying than her host of Orphan doubles.

In her new Apple TV series, Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, the chameleonic actress steps into the shoes of Paula, a newly divorced mother who is struggling with a midlife identity crisis. As if going through a fierce custody battle with her ex-husband (Jake Johnson) wasn’t already chaotic enough, her life takes an even darker plunge after she witnesses a murder that puts her in the crosshairs of a major conspiracy.

Tatiana MaslanySela Shiloni

For Maslany, the initial draw wasn’t just the plot, but the “upside-down” place that is Paula’s life. “When David Rosen’s script first landed on my lap, I felt like I didn’t know who this character was,” Maslany admits with a candidness that defines her approach to acting. “I couldn’t place her. I couldn’t feel her. And I thought that was actually really amazing writing, because I think that’s actually where Paula is at.”

Maslany describes Paula — who is a fact-checker for a major publication — as a woman who has been “sleepwalking” through her life until the sudden jolt of divorce strips everything away. Her first attempt at finding love again is a digital one — a connection with a good-looking cam boy named Trevor (Brandon Flynn). It feels genuine, until it spirals into blackmail and life-threatening danger. “To me, that felt like very exciting territory to navigate,” Maslany says. “Somebody who’s at that age, who has all the things that maybe she dreamed of having and now they’re all gone.”

The show leans into the “outrageous decisions” Paula makes. After learning intimate details about Paula’s life, Trevor stages his own kidnapping in an effort to extort ransom money from her. When she figures out it’s all a ruse, she decides to one-up her blackmailers, making “impulsive and reckless” decisions along the way. “That’s my favorite thing about her,” Maslany laughs. “By all accounts, she should be responsible. She’s logical and she knows she has a lot on the line. And yet...she can’t help herself.”

The plot’s catalyst involves Trevor’s murder at the hands of his cold-blooded employer (and gay lover) Dennis (Murray Bartlett), who is the cleanup guy for a major blackmail ring. When Paula’s detective work leads her to Trevor’s freshly strangled corpse, her questionable presence at the crime scene not only makes her a prime suspect in the eyes of the local authorities, but also a loose end to Dennis and his mysterious superiors.

Tatiana Maslany and Jake Johnson in 'Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed,' now streaming on Apple TV.Apple TV

While she may not approve of Paula’s ill-advised Nancy Drew antics, Maslany did find some connective tissue with the character’s age and headspace. “I’ve been through big relationships dissolving.... I know what it’s like to be cheated on. There’s definitely a memory of that in my body,” she says. “And the seeking of connection — as an actor, that’s all I’m ever doing. And being at 40, where you’re sort of between things somehow, I think it’s a pretty interesting place for a woman.”

While Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed is a dark comedy and, at times, a gritty thriller, Maslany is still comfortably reigning over sci-fi franchises and “nerdy” intellectual properties. Fans know her as Telia in Prime Video’s animated series Invincible, a role that highlights her immense respect for the “athleticism” of voice acting.

“Voice actors are absolute athletes,” she says. “I’ve always revered voice actors. Futurama is still one of my favorite shows.” She notes that the “mental gymnastics” required to bring a character to life using only vocal nuance is a challenge she relishes, even when it involves recording awkward, comical orgasms alone in a brightly lit booth. “You just commit, but it’s very freeing in that way,” she says of Invincible’s outrageous sex-scene gags. “That show is so great because they let me do all kinds of stuff and they’re very encouraging and nobody makes you feel foolish afterwards, which is nice.”

This comfort with the strange and the sci-fi is a recurring theme in her recent choices. She is currently filming the sci-fi horror-thriller Green Bank, starring alongside Kumail Nanjiani, and, earlier this year, she appeared in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Her preparation for the latter turned her into a genuine “Trekkie,” as she binge-watched all of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. “I love how political it is. I love how all the actors were from theater — you can really feel it; they all really care,” she gushes. “All of the beautiful love stories — everything, I loved it so much. So it was really fun to get to be part of that universe.”

Even though she has an Emmy on her shelf for playing an army of clones that represented a mix of sexual orientations and gender identities — which was no small feat — she still has other major ambitions. For Maslany, her next objective isn’t just in front of the camera, but possibly behind it. “I’d love to direct,” she reveals. “I love actors, and I love watching a crew work. I feel like as an actor, you only get a certain element of it. But to control a story and be the spearhead of it would be really fun.”

She also hasn’t quite closed the door on Jennifer Walters. While she jokes that the internet will likely know about the fate of She-Hulk long before she does, she’s clearly still invested in the character’s potential. If she had her way, she’d love to see a pairing between She-Hulk and “Baby Groot” or any of the “tiny little Avengers.”

There are also stage lights and curtain calls in Maslany’s immediate future, as she will be making her American Repertory Theater debut this August, starring in its upcoming revival of Eugène Ionesco’s Rhinoceros alongside heavyweights John Turturro and Paul Giamatti. And that isn’t her only project with Turturro. She reunites with him again in this fall’s crime thriller The Only Living Pickpocket in New York.

But if you ask her about her “dream” project, her inner child comes out. “If the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles went back and did a live-action with the Jim Henson puppet heads...that would be great. I would love to play April, but she was probably 20.” While she modestly suggests she might be old enough to play April O’Neil’s mom now, she quickly reconsiders with a grin: “April O’Neil would be sick.”

As for more Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, the series ends with an edge-of-your-seat cliffhanger. “I’d love a second season,” says Maslany, who teases there’s more about Paula viewers don’t know. “I know David Rosen is definitely prepared. I think he has all kinds of plans in his head.”

Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed is now streaming on Apple TV.

This article is part of OUT’s July-Aug 2026 print issue, on newsstands July 7. Support queer media and subscribe — or download the issue now through Apple News+, Zinio, Nook, or PressReader.

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