"She has got a lot of layers to her" — Orphan Black: Echoes director John Fawcett talks about Krysten Ritter as the choice for the show lead

AMC is returning to the captivating universe of Orphan Black with Orphan Black: Echoes, seven years after the original series premiered. Set in 2052, in a futuristic Boston, the show delves into the moral and ethical dilemmas of cutting-edge biotechnology through the story of an encounter between a scientist (played by Keeley Hawes) and an amnesiac woman (played by Krysten Ritter).

This sets off a riveting journey of exploration where a group of women weave their way into each other's lives and embark on unraveling the mystery of their identity. Echoes stars Krysten Ritter in the lead role, and talking about her as the choice for the protagonist, director John Fawcett has said,

"I just feel like she's got a lot of layers to her. She's very complex, interesting, talented actor."

Following the premiere of the AMC Orphan Black spinoff, Sneha Haldar from Sportskeeda, in a conversation with Echoes director John Fawcett, discussed Ritter as the face of the show.

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Orphan Black: Echoes star Krysten Ritter adds a lot of depth and complexity to her character

Orphan Black: Echoes brings back Breaking Bad actor Krysten Ritter to star in the sci-fi AMC series. Talking about working with Ritter, Fawcett has said,

"I was very excited that Krysten was even interested in making Orphan Black: Echoes. I've been a fan of hers from Breaking Bad through Jessica Jones and various other projects that she's done. I thought she was a really unique performer and we kind of hit it off well. I felt like, you know, Krysten kind of had this rock and roll edge to her... a kind of give no f*cks attitude."

He continued:

"I felt Lucy, the main character really needed it. That was an important aspect of the character that she was bringing. Plus I feel like she's got a lot of layers to her. She's a very complex, interesting, talented actor...you just have to turn the camera on and it's awesome...and I don't have to do that much."

Krysten Ritter stars as the protagonist, Lucy, a woman who has undergone a procedure and has no memory of who she is or her past.

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John Fawcett talks about the challenges of finding the right casting match

Since Orphan Black: Echoes is a spinoff of Orphan Black, we can expect much of the story to revolve around cloning. This made casting for the show a very challenging task. Talking about finding the right look-alike for a role, Fawcett shared,

"It was really one of the big challenges of casting. Fortunately, we had really great casting directors and it took a lot of patience and time. We had to, first of all, lock down Krysten. Going from there we started casting for Jules. We were trying to find someone that felt, looked, but not necessarily acted like, (her) because I think that Jules is very much her own character. So it was ecertainly time consuming and we just scored because we found Amanda Fix."

Amanda Fix plays Jules, whom Lucy encounters while on the quest to learn more about her past. Jules, too, does not have memories of her past, and the two team up to find the answers to their mysterious origins.

Alongside Ritter and Fix, Orphan Black: Echoes also stars Keeley Hawes as Dr. Kira Manning, a scientist; Avan Jogia as Jack, Lucy's boyfriend and a former army medic; James Hiroyuki Liao as Paul Darros, a powerful billionaire running the Darros Foundation; and Rya Kihlstedt as Dr. Eleanor Miller, a neuroscientist and Kira's wife.

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Watch this space for more updates on AMC's Orphan Black: Echoes. The 10-episode sci-fi series aired on June 23, 2024, and drops new episodes every Sunday.