Simon Helberg’s musical heritage helped him get his role in the film. “Florence Foster Jenkins”Helberg was a great actor, alongside Meryl Streep & Hugh Grant, thanks to his ability tickle the ivories. Helberg did not even audition for the film’s casting director when he first reached out. USC revealed. Helberg is unquestionably a great pianist. However, the actor admitted that he may not have been as good as he thought to be in order to perform the role. Director Stephen Frears “didn’t even care about the acting part as much as the piano and I sort of bluffed because I play, but I don’t play opera. I wasn’t that cool,”Helberg admitted to“Today.”After a meeting with Frears, Helberg needed to quickly reach the level he lied about. “Then I had to learn all this opera and classical stuff,”Helberg explained more “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”Before showing off his amazing piano playing skills along with him Jon Batiste, Grammy-winning artist. Helberg began studying and practicing like crazy just two days after his first encounter with Frears. He sent the director a recording of him playing a piece from a classical piano, per USC.
Helberg recalls Frears’ precise instructions on how his piano playing scenes should look once filming started. “‘On this note, lift one hand, and then lift ze other hand,’ and I’m, like, ‘You want me to play the piano with no hands?'”Helberg said that New YorkerWhile imitating the French accent of the director, he.