Ellen Page muses on playing violin for Netflix's 'Umbrella Academy': 'It was so hard'

Even though she plays a character known for not having any powers, Ellen Page put in a superhuman effort to develop at least one capability for Netflix's new series, "The Umbrella Academy": playing the violin.

The show (streaming now) casts Page as Vanya Hargreeves, part of a family of seven foster children adopted as infants and the only one who isn't tapped to be in their squad of crime-fighting superhero kids. Vanya grows up ostracized by her father (Colm Feore) and her siblings and later writes a tell-all book about her family. When the surviving members come back together because of their dad's death – and to stave off the end of the world – all those old feelings come back for Vanya.

"For me on a personal level, I have to say this is one of my favorite characters I've ever gotten to play," Page says.

Vanya is also quite the violinist and Page is, shall we say, still learning. The actress admits she had a "phenomenal" double: "She's a 16-year-old prodigy named Imogen. It was a gift to listen to her play." But Page, who'd never picked up a violin previously, thought it was important that she take lessons for authenticity's sake. "I definitely know the stuff that doesn't look as good."

So how did that go? "I did my absolute best and had a wonderful, patient teacher. It is so hard. So hard. Really, the goal was to just try and make me look as comfortable as humanly possible," Page says with a laugh.

Vanya also struggles with the one thing she actually is pretty good at: She's stuck way down in her orchestra's violin section, although her professional life turns around as she goes on a journey of self-discovery. (Without saying too much, there's a reason the comic-book story line that the first "Umbrella" season is based on is called "Apocalypse Suite.")

"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."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ellen Page muses on playing violin for Netflix's 'Umbrella Academy': 'It was so hard'