Though Grace Kaufman had practiced the clarinet months before arriving on-set, having to play it on-camera gave her a major case of stage fright. “There was a lot of pressure there,” she admitted to The List. “I was definitely nervous to get to set and have to play it in person, live in front of a whole crew, in front of the rest, you know, in front of other cast members.” This included her co-star Jacques Colimon, who had already known how to play the guitar long before ever getting cast as guitarist Joe Fontaine in the film.
Over the course of playing Lennie, Kaufman was constantly having to fine-tune her musical performance, too. “Definitely had to dedicate a lot of time to practicing and just teaching myself and learning from my amazing instructor, Melissa,” she told us.
In the end, as scary as learning a new instrument was, when it came to the final product, “It all felt really worth it,” Kaufman said.
“The Sky is Everywhere” is available to watch now on Apple TV+ and in select theaters across the country.
