Raz, has starred in a number of international movies and series following his success in Fauda, the popular counterterrorism drama series.
At the premiere of his new movie, Tuner, in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night, Fauda star Lior Raz said, “We are simply not afraid,” when asked about being an Israeli actor in Hollywood these days.
Raz has a key supporting role in the movie as an Israeli gangster in New York who enlists Niki (Leo Woodall), a piano tuner and prodigy with perfect pitch, to join his crime gang as a safecracker. Niki works with an older musician and tuner, Harry, played by Dustin Hoffman.
Raz’s character is ruthless and clever, and much of the comedy in the movie comes from his dark sense of humor, and the interplay between him and his other Israeli partners. The movie opens in theaters throughout Israel on Thursday.
Raz, who has starred in a number of international movies and series following his success in Fauda, the popular counterterrorism drama series, said he met the director of Tuner, Daniel Roher, in Los Angeles. Roher won an Oscar in 2023 for the documentary, Navalny, and offered Raz the role, without asking him to audition.
‘Of course you say yes’ when offered a role, Raz says
“So, when someone offers you a part in a film like this, of course you say yes. I really believe in this film. It has comedy, drama, and music, and New York is amazing in it. It was really fun to work on this movie,” Raz said. “And besides me, there are two other Israeli actors in the film who appear with me — Gil Cohen and Nisan Sakira. They are wonderful actors.”
Asked about working with two-time Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman, one of the world’s leading actors, Raz mentioned that Hoffman’s son, director Jake Hoffman, is married to an Israeli woman and has visited Israel a number of times.
DUSTIN HOFFMAN attends the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival for the movie ‘Tuner.’ (credit: Wikimedia Commons)
He went on to say, “Dustin really has a good soul, and you can see that in his acting. We learned a lot just from watching him, from seeing how he works. In the end, he works from a place of complete quiet. He really is a very special person. I think his humility comes through in his acting.”
While he noted he did not have scenes with Hoffman, he said he stayed on set and watched while Hoffman acted and spent time talking to him on the set. “He is simply enjoyable and fun… No matter how famous or great actors are, when they are in the room acting opposite another person, it does not matter who you are. Once the scene starts, none of that matters.”
Speaking about what it is like to be an Israeli actor in Hollywood these days, he said, “I think that right now, in the world, it is not simple. But in the end, if someone loves you, they love you. You keep moving forward. We are simply not afraid. We are not afraid to be who we are, and we are not afraid to say who we are.”
Finally, when he was asked to give advice to young actors in the audience, he said, “I can say about myself that I did not succeed for many, many years as an actor. I think that the moment I started initiating things, things started happening. As an actor, you cannot just sit and wait. You have to act, to give of yourself, and to recognize opportunities.”
The fifth season of Fauda, which he co-created with Avi Issacharoff, covers the October 7 massacre by Hamas and its aftermath, and is currently showing on Yes Action and Yes VOD in Israel. It is set to be released around the world on Netflix in a few months.
Credit: Source link