Although she’s seen but never heard playing the cello in the new film, “August Rush,” Keri Russell spent months learning to play the difficult instrument, anyway. The music in the film was performed by professional musicians and set to Russell’s actions, so it looks like she’s really playing those compositions – but she’s not.

“You’re never just OK at the cello. You’re like a child prodigy at the cello, performing at the New York Philharmonic. So, I went from ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ to Bach solos in about 12 weeks. Many, many hours a day just to be able to fake the fingering…I was doing compromised versions of the Cs and the Gs, but pretty much following along and that was an extreme part of doing this film.”

So has the new mom kept up with her cello playing?

“I’d love to say that I did, but I have not. But, I will, some day. It takes a lot of work, but they’re exquisite, even just to look at.”

In the film, Russell plays a cellist trying to reunite with the son she was misled to believe died at birth.

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