“Orphan Black” star Jordan Gavaris answers our 7 Questions

Golden Globe-nominated Tatiana Maslany and costar Jordan Gavaris hit the ground running, literally, in Season 2 of the clone conspiracy-drama Orphan Black, returning to BBC America Saturdays at 9pm ET/PT beginning April 19. Gavaris, whose character Felix (aka Fee) adds the witty banter when dealing with his foster sister Sarah (Maslany) and her club of clones, tells us that this season brings new challenges. “He has a big decision to make and it’s not an easy one,” Gavaris says of Felix. “The relationship between him and his sister is going to be tested in really profound ways. It was very difficult.” Maybe as difficult as answering our “7 Questions” …

Orphan Black's Jordan Gavaris as Felix1. You’re at a magazine rack and can only pick three titles. Which ones do you choose?
Architectural Digest, some sort of food magazine, and whatever city I was in, at that newsstand — you know, Los Angeles has L.A. Magazine, Pasadena has Pasadena Magazine — whatever city, that magazine, so I could find the best coffee in town.

2. If your TV carried just three shows or networks, what would they be?
AMC, HGTV and the Mystery channel.

3. What are three things you have to have in your fridge or pantry?
Oh my gosh, I have to think about this really carefully. I always have coffee beans. I’m a nut about coffee. I do the Hario V60 pour-over method. Buckwheat flour because I’m a health nut and I make buckwheat waffles with it. Maple syrup. I put maple syrup in and on everything. Oh, were these answers OK? Oh God. I’m having a panic attack about these answers. I just realized the gravity of this column and I’m committing to these three things.

4. What’s a movie you can watch over and over again?
Carrie. I think I’m obsessed with Sissy Spacek. I think she’s probably the greatest living actor on the planet. She was actually a big reason why I got into this business. A few years ago I met her at The Mint. I went to see her daughter in concert and she was there. I just emotionally vomited over the poor woman. I don’t even think half of what I said made sense. She was so nice. I literally think that I said things backwards.

5. That answers our star struck question, but how did this obsession start?
I mentioned her a couple of times in interviews — that I’d love to get to talk to her again and not be such a nut case. [Sissy – reach out to Jordan, please!] When I saw Carrie I was 15. I was working in a video store. It was the first time a character ever resignated with me in that way. It was the first time I  figured out what residence was in terms of acting and then I saw Coal Miner’s Daughter and Missing and In the Bedroom and I realized: “Oh, this is what acting is.” This was my introduction to film, and I discovered so many directors through her performance because she had incredible taste — between De Palma and Robert Altman, Todd Field and Costa-Gavras (Who happens to be a relative of mine, which is really weird. I’ve never met the man but he’s a distant, distant relative.) She kind of changed my life. I realized when I was getting into acting the kind of actor I wanted to be — more of the Tom Wilkinsons, the Sissy Spaceks, the Anthony Hopkinses of the world. And it started with Carrie. And she would probably eyeroll and say, “Oh not that movie, it turns up like a bad penny every year.”

6. What would your reaction be if the writers told you that Felix was actually Sarah’s monitor?
I would be a little devastated. I would be really devastated. That would be really horrible. I’m like getting choked up right now. That would be really, really tough. I think I would probably fight that with every ounce of my being. The relationship between Sarah and Felix — it’s the relationship that got me the part. I saw so much of myself and my sisters in that bond, in that familial bond. Felix and I are very different people. Our MOs are totally different — we move through the world very differently, we say hello differently, we make toast differently, but the love that he has for Sarah is the same love I have for my two sisters. … It’s that common thread that I was able to latch on to that carried me through the journey. Because every time I thought I was going off the rails with this character, I’d ask, “Do I have the relationship?” and if the answer was yes then I’d know I was OK.

7. Of all the clone characters on Orphan Black, which character is the most fun to act opposite?
Riffing with Allison is the most fun I have on the show. Sarah gives me something different. Sarah stretches Felix in a different way — he’s much more tender and vulnerable with her. With Allison he gets to be the strong one, and he’s rarely the confident and put together one — it’s like he gets to be the older brother.