It’s time for She-Hulk to have her moment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Actress Tatiana Maslany, 36, is playing the iconic green superhero in the Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, which premieres August 18. The nine-episode show features Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk, a single attorney in her 30s who transforms into a 6-foot-7-inch friendly monster after accidentally cross-contaminating with her cousin Bruce Banner/Hulk’s blood. Tatiana auditioned for the superhero show and instantly fell in love with creator Jessica Gao‘s script.
“It just spoke to me in a way that I was like, ‘I don’t know that I can do this.’ And that’s exciting to me,” she told Elle. “I don’t know that I was like, ‘I can take everything that comes with this,’ but I definitely was like, ‘This work will be interesting enough to me to warrant a little bit of a shift in my life if that’s what happens. And if not, great.’ ”
So, who is Tatiana Maslany? From her childhood growing up in Canada, to becoming an Emmy Award-winning actor, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about Tatiana below.
Tatiana is Canadian.
Tatiana was born in Regina, the capitol city of the Canadian province Saskatchewan. She was taught elementary school in French immersion before she learned English. Tatiana attended Dr. Martin LeBouldus High School in Regina where she started doing side acting jobs. After graduating in 2003, she moved to Toronto to pursue acting full-time.
‘She-Hulk’ is Tatiana’s first appearance in the MCU.
Tatiana’s making a huge splash in the MCU with her very own television show. She’ll star alongside fellow MCU newbies Ginger Gonzaga as paralegal Nikki Ram, Jameela Jamil, as super powered social media influencer Titania, Josh Segarra as legal team member Augustus “Pug” Pugliese, and Jon Bass as Todd, a potential suitor for She-Hulk. There’s also some MCU actors returning, including Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, Tim Roth as Abomination, Charlie Cox as Daredevil, and Benedict Wong as Wong.
At the She-Hulk premiere, Mark Ruffalo teased that this show will only be the start of Tatiana’s appearances in MCU projects. “She’s in now, there’s not going to be another Avengers without her,” he said.
She won an Emmy for ‘Orphan Black.’
Tatiana played numerous human clones in the popular science fiction series Orphan Black from 2013 to 2017. She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2016 over Claire Danes, Viola Davis, Taraji P. Henson, Keri Russell, and Robin Wright. She became the first Canadian to win an Emmy in a major category for acting in a Canadian series. Tatiana also won two Critics’ Choice Awards and five Canada Screen Awards for her performance in the show. To this day, Tatiana is still remembered best for Orphan Black.
She’s married to a fellow actor.
While promoting She-Hulk, Tatiana announced that she married actor Brendan Hines, 45. Brendan is best known for starring in Lie to Me and Locke & Key. He had recurring roles in popular shows like Scandal, Suits, and MacGyver. When asked why she kept the marriage a secret on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Tatiana explained that there are “certain things you kind of want to keep private.” She also gushed over her husband and called him “a wonderful guy.”
Tatiana is supportive of the LGBTQ community.
Tatiana is extremely passionate about advocating for the LGBTQ community. At the Doctor Strange 2 premiere in May, she wore a T-shirt from The Trevor Project, a nonprofit that focuses on suicide prevention in the LGBTQ community. She also wore sweatshirts saying, “Support Trans Futures” for She-Hulk publicity after the “Don’t Say Gay” bill was passed in Florida. “I felt, as an employee of Disney, that I had to speak,” she told Elle. “Stand with the people who I stand with. I wanted to let people know, who needed to know, that I was with them.”