Carey Mulligan went to painting classes to prepare for her role in Maestro but those scenes were cut from the script.

The British actress is currently winning rave reviews for her portrayal of Leonard Bernstein’s actress wife Felicia Montealegre alongside Bradley Cooper as the late composer-conductor.

To prepare for the role, Mulligan took up painting lessons because there were scenes in the script that required her to create a piece of art like Montealegre.

“There were originally scenes in the movie where she was painting, and I thought, ‘I don’t want to look like I have no idea what I’m doing,’ so I started going to painting classes, and I absolutely loved it,” she told Variety.

Three months after she started her lessons, Mulligan flew to Santiago, Chile to meet with Montealegre’s family for a couple of days. However, she contracted Covid-19 during the trip and was unable to fly home so she used that extra time in the country to try to replicate Montealegre’s original artwork.

“As I got to the airport to leave, I found out I had COVID, so I had to stay on. And, actually, I spent the rest of the time that I was there painting and re-creating Felicia’s paintings – and I’m not a painter!” she stated.

“When I got stuck in my hotel room in Chile, I said to Netflix, ‘I can’t come back, I’ve got COVID.’ And they said, ‘Well, what can we send you?’ I said, ‘I just need a canvas and some paints!'”

Maestro, directed by Cooper, will be released on Netflix on 20 December.

© Cover Media