Tatiana Maslany on ‘Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed,’ Flawed Mothers on TV and ‘Avoiding AI at All Costs’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Emmy winner Tatiana Maslany has played her fair share of complex women on screen, from “Orphan Black” to “She-Hulk”. Now, for Apple TV+’s “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed”, also starring Jake Johnson, Jessy Hodges, Dolly de Leon, Brandon Flynn and others, the actor sinks her teeth into another richly written character, a single mother battling for custody of her daughter, while caught in a web of cam boys, digital voyeurism and blackmail.

In an exclusive conversation with Variety India, Maslany shares her take on playing characters making questionable choices, the freedom to play imperfect mothers on TV and her take on the social media age and AI encroaching on the personal and professional. Excerpts from the interview:

What's something that helped you empathize with a character like Paula, with her quirks and questionable choices?

I think that she's just trying really hard. There's nothing victim-y about her. She could be in a situation where she just curls into a ball and doesn't go out ever. But she just throws herself into the world. And it's not always the most logical, but she has a strong gut feeling and she follows that. I think I found that to be a very beautiful quality of hers.

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Society would be very quick to label Paula as a bad mother…

I think I've played mothers now for a while. And I found early on in my career that there was a lot of worry about, “Oh, we need her to seem more like this. She has to be better at this, blah, blah, blah.” And even just that as a network note was so wild; this expectation, not just from a TV mom but a fictional character. We still want her to adhere to something. 

Years and years later, playing Paula, the wonderful joy of getting to embrace all of that stuff that, 10 years ago, I would have been “Uh-uh!” for is really freeing, you know? That we're starting to see a more honest experience of a woman who also happens to be a mother and that that doesn't change her and make her this saintly thing.

What's a scene that got you sweating that you're excited for the audience to see for the work you put into it?

I feel there's so much in the whole season. It's all fever pitch. But I really love the scene with Mallory (Jessy Hodges), Karl (Jake Johnson), and Paula after the accident in Portland because it's such a strange moment for all three of us. And it's a real turning point.

And there's the strange dynamic of Paula and Karl still being together, but they're not a team anymore. And there's just all this interpersonal stuff on top of the fact that there's a dead body on the ground. So it's a really complex, juicy scene.

What's the most fun thing that you got to do while playing Paula?

Oh, there's a moment where, before Paula goes on a date or so she thinks, she has a little moment where she’s on the verge of feeling like she wants to bail on this date and she turns on some music and dances. And that little bit of connection to her body, she doesn't get throughout the whole show. Of course, as soon as she opens the door, there are cops. But she gets a little moment of freedom, of checking back in with herself. And I think that's a really beautiful scene.

What's one thing that lets you check out of a character and become Tatiana again?

I mean, even leaving the studio, listening to music and truly dancing my way home down the street is a nice way of being physical somehow. For me, it's rock climbing or going for a walk, just doing something to breathe and not be up in my head or not be back into work.

The show tackles digital voyeurism, which is happening to so many people right now. But at the same time, we see Paula use the internet to help her get out of the mess. How forthcoming are you about social media and AI usage in your personal and professional life?

I avoid AI at all costs, even though it's the first thing that pops up when you search. I know that it is destroying the planet. It's lining the pockets of billionaires. Marginalized communities of color and low-income are being totally decimated by this in so many ways. They end up having to pay to keep these data centers going. I'm so against it. I'm so against it in terms of art and creation, and the fact that we can't look things up now without asking ChatGPT, or we can't eat something without knowing what we're going to eat tomorrow, because ChatGPT told us this and that. I have no time for it. 

I don't have any issue with social media. I also think it's an incredibly connective thing. You can find community, resources and independent journalism there. But I do think AI is a completely different thing and total death.

“Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed” streams weekly on Apple TV+ starting May 20, 2026.