While many fans might believe that the training required for a role in a comic book movie or show consists of rigorous gym exercises and strict diets, sometimes there's more to it than that. Just ask Ellen Page, who plays Vanya/The White Violin in Netflix and Dark Horse's new television adaptation of Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba's acclaimed comic run,
The Umbrella Academy.
Vanya is one of seven foster children adopted as infants, all of whom were born of a freak accident, although she is the only one of the crew that is ordinary - that is to say, she has no powers and is therefore not a part of the vigilante team of siblings known as The Umbrella Academy.
Though Page was unable to play the violin, she focused on working hard to make it look as though her character does. She worked extensively to learn enough so that she was comfortable with the instrument, and could turn in a great performance. Here is what she had to say about that difficult learning process.
"I did my absolute best and had a wonderful, patient teacher. She's a 16-year-old prodigy named Imogen. It was a gift to listen to her play. I definitely know the stuff that doesn't look as good. It is so hard. So hard. Really, the goal was to just try and make me look as comfortable as humanly possible."
The actress also commented on how she feels about the character she is playing as compared to her other super or non-super roles.
"For me on a personal level, I have to say this is one of my favorite characters I have ever played. Her arc is interesting," Page says. "When you're folding in on yourself and you're numb to the world and you don't know how to relate to it, it's needless to say hard to blossom in any way at all, whether it's personal life, professional life, what have you. Obviously this is Vanya going on an awakening of some sort."
What did you think of Ellen Page's performance as Vanya Hargreeves, AKA The White Violin, and the Netflix series in general?
The Umbrella Academy revolves around a dysfunctional family of adopted sibling superheroes who reunite to solve the mystery of their father's death, and the oncoming threat of the apocalypse.
The Umbrella Academy is available to stream now on Netflix.