Early life

Maslany was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, the daughter of Dan, a woodworker, and Renate, a translator. She has two younger brothers, Daniel and Michael. She has Austrian, German, Polish, Romanian, and Ukrainian ancestry. For elementary school, Maslany was in French immersion, and was taught to be fluent in German by her mother before learning English. She also speaks some Spanish. She has danced since age four and started community theatre and musicals at the age of nine.

Maslany attended Dr. Martin LeBoldus High School, where she participated in school productions and improvisation, and graduated in 2003. While attending high school, she found paying acting jobs that allowed her to travel all over Canada with her parents' approval. She would work for a few months at a time and then return to school in Regina. She stated, "It wasn't an easy transition. I felt a little outside of it. Outside of both experiences, really." After completing high school, she spent some time doing theatre performances and travelling before settling in Toronto, Ontario at the age of 20.

Career

Maslany was one of the stars of the 2002 Canadian TV series 2030 CE. She appeared as the character Ghost in the 2004 film Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed. Maslany performed comedic improvisation for ten years. She participated in improvisational theatre, including the Canadian Improv Games, and has since become a member of the General Fools Improvisational Theatre. She is now a certified improvisation trainer.

In 2007, Maslany appeared in The Messengers as Lindsay Rollins. She also starred in the CBC series Heartland where she plays a barrel racer, Kit Bailey, with her horse Daisy. During 2008, she had a recurring role in the Instant Star TV series. She had a lead role in the Hallmark Channel movie, An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving. In September 2008, she portrayed Penny, a kidnapping victim in the Canadian series Flashpoint.

Maslany appeared as Sarah Wexlar, the heroin-addicted daughter of Dr. Tom Wexlar in the second season of the Canadian comedy drama television series Being Erica in 2010. Also in 2010, she appeared as the protagonist Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the British four-part television series The Nativity, which received excellent ratings.

Maslany appeared in Grown Up Movie Star as Ruby, a role which earned the actor a special jury breakout role award at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. She played Hannah Simmons in one episode of The Listener. In 2010, she appeared in the direct-to-video film Hardwired as Punk Red. In late 2011, she co-starred in the film adaptation of John Sandford's Certain Prey as a contract killer named Clara Rinker. In 2012, Maslany appeared as lead character Claire in the full-length feature Picture Day, for which she won a Phillip Borsos Award for Best Performance at the 2012 Whistler Film Festival.

In 2013, Maslany guest starred on Parks and Recreation for a two-episode arc as Dr. Nadia Stasky. She portrayed the lead character Dylan in the independent film Cas & Dylan, for which she won a Phillip Borsos Award for Best Performance at the 2013 Whistler Film Festival. On June 11, 2013, Maslany signed with the U.S. talent agency Resolution, which serves as her United States representation. In Canada, she continues to be managed by Magnolia Entertainment and represented by Characters Talent Agency. The 2013 Juno Award ceremonies were held in Regina, Maslany's home town, and Maslany was chosen as one of the presenters.

On May 17, 2014, Maslany guest starred on the season 39 finale of Saturday Night Live. She played the character Bridget in the episode's second digital short entitled Hugs. She guest starred alongside Pharrell Williams and The Lonely Island.

Maslany co-starred in the 2015 film, Woman in Gold, in the WWII flashbacks as a younger version of Maria Altmann, Helen Mirren's character. The film also starred Max Irons, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Brühl, and Katie Holmes. She almost exclusively spoke German in the film.

As of December 2014, Maslany is set to star in the upcoming independent film The Other Half which is currently in development. The film, written by Joey Klein, will be produced by Motel Pictures with A71 and Sienna Films and will costar partner Tom Cullen.

On January 30, 2015, it was announced that Maslany has been cast in the leading role of Lucy in the upcoming indie drama film Two Lovers and a Bear. She will star alongside Dane DeHaan, who plays the character Roman. The film follows the two characters as they come together to find peace in their lives.

Maslany will next been seen as the female lead in the film Stronger, alongside Jake Gyllenhaal who will play Jeff Bauman, a victim of the Boston Marathon bombing and Erin's boyfriend.

Orphan Black

Main article: Orphan Black

Maslany currently stars in the BBC America and Space original series Orphan Black. She plays the lead character, Sarah Manning, as well as Sarah's cohort of clones: Cosima Niehaus, Alison Hendrix, Helena, Rachel Duncan, Elizabeth Childs, Veera Suominen (aka M.K.), Katja Obinger, Janika Zingler, Aryanna Giordano, Danielle Fournier, Jennifer Fitzsimmons, Krystal Goderitch, and Tony Sawicki. Maslany won two Critics' Choice Television Award and TCA Award for her performance in the series. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for these roles, but lost to Robin Wright of House of Cards.

In 2014, The Guardian praised Maslany's performance in the series, calling it "Olympic-level acting," writing:

Maslany plays half a dozen different clones over season one, with who knows how many more promised for the imminent second season. We start with the street-smart Sarah, but soon meet her test tube sisters: soccer mom Alison, microbiology student Cosima, assassin Helena and more. Delivering one creditable performance for a show is tough enough, but Maslany nails several here, often appearing in scenes as multiple versions interacting seamlessly. This is Olympic-level, endurance acting. It's like watching a long-distance runner do several races all at once. It's always clear which clone she's playing - accent, attitude and body language, along with wardrobe and makeup conspire to create Maslany's collection of characters. Each new turn is full of surprises, such as with the aforementioned soccer mom Alison, who starts off strident and uptight, seeming to be no fun at all, then rapidly steals all the wittiest and most moving scenes. But the real fun comes from watching Maslany immersing herself in myriad layers of performance: such as the scene when Sarah has to adopt the personality of another clone. It's dizzying, impressive stuff to watch, let alone act.

In 2015, Maslany was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her performance.

Personal life

Maslany has been dating Welsh actor Tom Cullen since 2011. The two met while filming the Channel 4 miniseries World Without End. They reside in Toronto, Ontario.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Recital, TheThe Recital	Diana Mills	Short film
2004	Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed	Ghost
2007	Messengers, TheThe Messengers	Lindsay Rollins
2007	Eastern Promises	Tatiana	Voice role
2007	Diary of the Dead	Mary Dexter
2007	Late Fragment	India
2008	Flash of Genius	Older Kathy
2009	Defendor	Olga
2009	Grown Up Movie Star	Ruby
2009	Hardwired	Punk Red
2010	Up & Down	Girl	Short film
2010	In Redemption	Margaret
2010	Toilet	Lisa
2011	Darla	Friend	Short film
2011	Entitled, TheThe Entitled	Jenna
2011	Violet & Daisy	April
2012	Waiting for You		Short film
2012	Vow, TheThe Vow	Lily
2012	Picture Day	Claire
2012	Blood Pressure	Kat
2014	Cas and Dylan	Dylan Morgan
2015	Woman in Gold	Young Maria Altmann
2016	The Other Half	Emily
2016	Two Lovers and a Bear	Lucy
2017	Stronger	Erin Hurley	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997-2002	Incredible Story Studios	Various	Unknown episodes
1999	Subterranean Passage	Narrator
2002-2003	2030 CE	Rome Greyson	6 episodes
2004-2006	Renegadepress.com	Melanie	12 episodes
2005	Dawn Anna	Lauren "Lulu" Dawn Townsend (Age 12)	Movie
2006	Trapped!	Gwen	Movie
2006	Booky Makes Her Mark	Beatrice "Booky" Thomson	Movie
2006	Prairie Giant	Tommy's Doctor's Receptionist	2 episodes
2007	Stir of Echoes: The Homecoming	Sammi	Movie
2007	Sabbatical	Gwyneth Marlowe	Movie
2007	The Robber Bride	Augusta	Movie
2008	Old Fashioned Thanksgiving, AnAn Old Fashioned Thanksgiving	Mathilda Bassett	Movie
2008	Instant Star	Zeppelin Dyer	8 episodes
2008	Would Be Kings	Reese	2 episodes
2008	Flashpoint	Penny	Episode: "Planets Aligned"
2008-2010	Heartland	Kit Bailey	15 episodes
2009	Listener, TheThe Listener	Hannah Simmons	Episode: "One Way or Another"
2009-2011	Being Erica	Sarah Wexler	4 episodes
2010	Cra$h & Burn	Lindsay	Episode: "Closure"
2010	Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures	Janice	Episode: "All Souls"
2010	The Nativity	Mary	4 episodes
2011	Certain Prey	Clara Rinker	Movie
2011	Alphas	Tracy Beaumont	Episode: "Anger Management"
2012	World Without End	Sister Meir	7 episodes
2013	Cracked	Haley Coturno / Isabel Ann Fergus	Episode: "Spirited Away"
2013-2014	Captain Canuck	Redcoat (voice)	4 episodes
2013-present	Orphan Black	Sarah Manning / Elizabeth Childs / Alison Hendrix / Cosima Niehaus / Helena / Rachel Duncan / Tony Sawicki / Jennifer Fitzsimmons / Katja Obinger / Pupok (Scorpion, voice) / Krystal Goderitch / Veera Suominen (MK)	Main role(s) Producer (season 3-)
2013	Parks and Recreation	Nadia Stasky	2 episodes
2014	Saturday Night Live	Bridget	Episode: "Andy Samberg/St. Vincent"
2015	BoJack Horseman	Mia McKibbin (voice)	Episode: "Let's Find Out"

Music videos

Year	Artist	Song
2013	The Lonely Island feat. Pharrell	"Hugs"
2015	Son Lux	"You Don't Know Me"

Other works

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Ref.
1995	Oliver!	Orphan	Regina Summer Stage
2003-04	The Secret Garden	Mary	Globe Theatre, Regina
2006	George Dandin	Angel	Globe Theatre, Regina
2007	A Christmas Carol	Belle, Agnes, Debtor's Wife, Fan, Belinda	Globe Theatre, Regina
2009	Dog Sees God	CB's Sister	Six Degrees Theatre, Toronto
2012	Other People	Petra	Tank House Theatre, Toronto

Audio books

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2015	Locke & Key	Dodge	13-hour audio drama

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Work	Result
2005	Gemini Awards	Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series	Renegadepress.com	Nominated
2009		Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series	Flashpoint	Won
2010	Sundance Film Festival	Special Jury Prize, World Cinema - Dramatic	Grown Up Movie Star	Won
2010	Gemini Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series	Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures	Won
2011	Genie Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role	Grown Up Movie Star	Nominated
2012	Whistler Film Festival	Best Actor in a Borsos Film Award	Picture Day	Won
2013	ACTRA Awards	Outstanding Performance - Female	Picture Day	Won
2013	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Orphan Black	Won
2013	TCA Awards	Individual Achievement in Drama	Orphan Black	Won
2013	Young Hollywood Awards	Breakthrough Performance - Female	Orphan Black	Won
2013	EWwy Awards	Best Actress in a Drama Series	Orphan Black	Won
2013	Hamptons International Film Festival	Breakthrough Performer	Picture Day	Won
2013	Whistler Film Festival	Best Actor in a Borsos Film Award	Cas & Dylan	Won
2014	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Actress	Orphan Black	Nominated
2014	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress - Television Series Drama	Orphan Black	Nominated
2014	Satellite Awards	Best Actress - Television Series Drama	Orphan Black	Nominated
2014	Canadian Screen Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Dramatic Role	Orphan Black	Won
2014		Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role	Cas & Dylan	Nominated
2014	ACTRA Awards	Outstanding Performance - Female	Orphan Black	Nominated
2014	Vancouver Film Critics Circle	Best Actress in a Canadian Film	Picture Day	Nominated
2014	Gracie Awards	Outstanding Female Actor in a Breakthrough Role	Orphan Black	Won
2014	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Orphan Black	Won
2014	TCA Award	Individual Achievement in Drama	Orphan Black	Nominated
2014	Constellation Awards	Best Female Performance in a 2013 Science Fiction Television Episode	Orphan Black	Won
2014		Outstanding Canadian Contribution to Science Fiction Film or Television in 2013	Orphan Black	Won
2014	EWwy Awards	Best Actress in a Drama Series	Orphan Black	Won
2015	Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series	Orphan Black	Nominated
2015	ACTRA Awards	Outstanding Performance - Female	Orphan Black	Won
2015	Canadian Screen Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Dramatic Role	Orphan Black	Won
2015	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Orphan Black	Nominated
2016	Canadian Screen Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Dramatic Role	Orphan Black	Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]