Eliza Scanlen learned to play violin in three weeks for Babyteeth

Eliza Scanlen learned to play the violin in three weeks to prepare for her role in Babyteeth.

In Shannon Murphy's directorial debut, the Australian actress plays a schoolgirl and talented violinist who is battling cancer and befriends Moses, a drug addict and dealer played by Toby Wallace.

The Sharp Objects star knows how to play the piano, something she had already showcased in Greta Gerwig's remake of Little Women, but she had to acquire violin skills in a short period of time in preparation for Babyteeth.

"She'd just come off Little Women where she had to play the piano but Eliza did know how to play the piano already so that was good for that film but she didn't know how to play the violin," Shannon explained in an exclusive interview with Cover Media. "We knew that but because she was so musical and she's such a freak, she learned how to play the violin in three weeks and even her teacher went, 'This is quite extraordinary.'

"We did, of course, have professional musicians play and we dubbed that over what they were doing but just to pull off that fingering and the complexity of how to hold it, that was exceptional."

She shared that Eliza and Essie Davis, who plays Milla's piano-playing mother Anna, couldn't dedicate any more time towards their practice because they were on other projects before Babyteeth, but she liked that her actors had something practical to focus on.

"It's hard for actors to do that but I actually love it because it makes them focus on that rather than getting stressed about the other side of things - they don't need to. It was actually quite a good little distraction to have that hyper-focus on a very practical activity," she added.

Babyteeth is released in cinemas on 14 August.