THE KEY MEN

Leo Woodall and Dustin Hoffman found themselves in harmony as piano tuners in a quirky crime drama. They tell YOLANTHE FAWEHINMI more

- YOLANTHE FAWEHINMI

IMAGINE not being able to do the thing you love most in the world.

It's a tragedy, and an idea Oscar-winning documentary maker Daniel Roher set out to explore in his narrative feature debut Tuner, in which One Day actor Leo Woodall stars as a talented piano tuner, Niki White, while Dustin Hoffman portrays his blunt and charismatic mentor Harry Horowitz.

Niki is a world-class pianist but also has hyperacusis, a painful disorder where everyday sounds are perceived as excessively loud, uncomfortable, or painful. His disability means he is unable to play the piano ever again, but is gifted at tuning them, looking after pianos in concert halls and homes alongside veteran tuner Harry.

It turns out that his condition also means he is a dab hand at cracking safes, a skill that inevitably lands him in danger - making for the kind of taut adult thriller we don’t see that often any more.

“This movie could easily have existed 20 years ago and be that movie you still go back to and watch. It was one of the draws for me to do it. They don’t get made as much any more,” says London-born Leo, 29, who had his breakout role in HBO drama The White Lotus.

“It's original in a very cool way, and I think ultimately it's a movie designed to be entertaining. It’s incredibly satisfying.

“The question that Daniel wanted to raise in this film was, if you can’t do the thing that you love and feel like you're put on earth to do, who are you? Where does that leave you? It gave me great empathy for Niki, who’s seriously alone.