Dustin Hoffman Has Played Piano Since He Was Five, But He’s Still Learning
For more than sixty years, Academy Award-winner Dustin Hoffman has stunned audiences with his performances. From the brokenhearted father fighting for his son in Kramer vs. Kramer to the brilliant, big-hearted Raymond Babbitt in Rain Man, he has never simply acted in a role. He has transformed it.
Now, in his new movie Tuner, Hoffman brings that same transformative power to his portrayal of Harry Horowitz, a gifted musician who found his calling in the intimate work of piano tuning. Alongside Harry is Niki, played by Leo Woodall, his young apprentice who suffers from hyperacusis—a rare hearing disorder where even the sound of a slammed door can be debilitatingly loud. The two are not family, but watching their chemistry together, you might forget that.
When hospital bills pile up after Harry’s sudden health decline, Niki decides to put his extraordinary hearing to use with his new unexpected talent: safecracking. The world he steps into is unfamiliar, one that tests everything Harry has taught him. What unfolds is surprising and deeply felt, as Hoffman delivers a performance that is equal parts heartwarming and profoundly moving.
A CONVERSATION WITH DUSTIN HOFFMAN
What drew you to the role of Harry Horowitz in Tuner?
I have played piano since I was five, I’ve known a lot of tuners. So many of these people are just extraordinary musicians, but they’re not quite at that level where the career takes off, and so they end up doing something else to get by.
What did you learn from spending time with real piano tuners while preparing for the role?
I spent time with a couple of piano tuners, and one of them, a friend of the director’s, said something that just stopped me in my tracks. After all my years of playing, 80 years or more, I’d never heard it put quite like that. He said, ‘I think every piano has its own soul. Every piano is different.’ And I thought… yes.
What was your first impression of working with Leo Woodall?
Leo and I met and just immediately hit it off. We have the same sense of humor and have the same feeling about life, and this shared resistance to playing so-called ‘characters.’ We both wanted to stay as close to ourselves as possible.
Did you find yourself playing piano on set between takes?
I’m a ham—if there’s a piano anywhere on set, I will find it and try to impress everybody in the building. But there’s a truth in that too, I think. You really are better when there’s an audience there.
Were you impressed by Havana Rose Liu’s preparation for the role?
I thought she had studied for months and months, but I learned recently it was only a couple of months of really hard work. And when I first saw her, I genuinely thought she was a pianist. She hasn’t played for long but she’s very convincing in the movie.
Were there any musical moments in the film that personally resonated with you?
Definitely the use of Tenderly. That was my father’s favorite. Something I learned to play for him when I was just a kid.
What was it like collaborating with Academy Award winning director Daniel Roher?
Daniel has such extraordinary energy and passion. From the moment we met he was completely collaborative, which for a director is not guaranteed. He’s written it, created it, he’s directing it, and yet you say ‘I have an idea’ and he just says, go ahead.
What do you think is unique about the communal experience of watching movies in a theater?
One of the most extraordinary experiences I think a human being can have is to be in a closed area watching a stage production or watching a film or dance or symphony and have strangers sitting on your left and on your right, in front of you and back of you. People that you’ve never seen before, people that you will never see again. And here you are joined just as human beings… being moved by the same thing at the same moment. There’s nothing like it. Here we are all laughing together, crying together, moved together… and at that moment we’re family.
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