Liev Schreiber

About Liev Schreiber

Liev Schreiber is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and narrator. His career gained prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s with notable appearances in both independent and mainstream Hollywood films. He starred in films like the "Scream" trilogy, "Ransom", "The Hurricane", "Kate & Leopold", "The Sum of All Fears", "The Manchurian Candidate", and "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", among others. Additionally, he lent his distinct voice to animated films such as "My Little Pony: The Movie", "Isle of Dogs", and "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse." On Broadway, he showcased his theatrical prowess and won a Tony Award for his role in "Glengarry Glen Ross". In 2005, he made his directorial and writing debut with "Everything Is Illuminated", an adaptation of the novel by the same name. His talent also extended to television, where he earned widespread acclaim for his portrayal of the titular character in the Showtime drama series "Ray Donovan". The role garnered him multiple Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy Award nominations. He further enriched his career by narrating HBO's "Hard Knocks" and "24/7" series, as well as various PBS programs.

Liev Schreiber Early Life

Liev Schreiber, originally named Isaac Liev Schreiber, was born on October 4, 1967, in San Francisco, California, USA. He comes from a diverse cultural background, with his father, Tell Schreiber, being Protestant, and his mother, Heather Milgram, being Jewish. His maternal grandfather, Alex Milgram, immigrated from Ukraine and played a significant role in Schreiber's upbringing, fostering a love for classical music and art. Liev's mother named him after her favorite Russian author, Leo Tolstoy, while his father believed he was named after the doctor who saved his mother's life. Growing up, he was affectionately called "Huggy." Schreiber's ethnicity is a mix of German, Swiss-German, Danish, Dutch, English, French, Norwegian, Belgian/Flemish, Scottish, and Welsh on his father's side, and he is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent on his mother's side. He celebrated his 55th birthday in 2022. His zodiac sign falls under Libra. 

When Liev Schreiber was one year old, his family relocated to Winlaw, a rural community in the southern interior of British Columbia. During his early years, his mother faced multiple hospitalizations and therapy due to a traumatic experience with LSD during her early marriage. After a turbulent period, Schreiber's father threatened to have her admitted to a mental institution, which eventually led to her gaining full custody of Liev. They ended up squatting on the Lower East Side in New York City. Schreiber's mother was described as a "far-out Socialist Labor Party hippie bohemian freak who hung out with William Burroughs." She earned a living by driving a cab and creating papier-mâché puppets. She encouraged fearlessness in her son, even gifting him a motorcycle on his 16th birthday. Her eccentricities greatly influenced Schreiber's approach to his acting, as he learned to adapt and embrace the complexities of his characters. She also exposed him to spiritual practices, leading him to briefly attend a yoga ashram when he was 12. Despite the unconventional upbringing, Schreiber appreciates his mother's influences and identifies with the challenges she faced in raising him as he now experiences parenthood himself.

Schreiber's educational journey took him to Friends Seminary, a Quaker school, where he continued his academic pursuits. During his high school years, he displayed his musical talents by playing the bass clarinet. After graduating, he enrolled at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, and began his acting training at the University of Massachusetts Amherst through the Five Colleges consortium. In 1989, he showcased his acting skills by portraying Antonio in The Merchant of Venice alongside Jeffrey Donovan. He further honed his craft at the prestigious Yale School of Drama under the guidance of Earle R. Gister. During his time at Yale, he starred in Charles Evered's play The Size of the World, directed by Walton Jones. Schreiber completed his academic journey with a master's degree in drama from Yale in 1992. In pursuit of a well-rounded education in acting, he also attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. While initially interested in becoming a screenwriter, Schreiber ultimately embraced acting as his career path.

Liev Schreiber Career

• Liev Schreiber initially had supporting roles in various independent films before landing his breakthrough as Cotton Weary, the accused murderer in the "Scream" trilogy of horror films.
• While the success of "Scream" opened doors to big-budget studio productions, he remained recognized for his outstanding performances in indie gems like "Walking and Talking", "The Daytrippers", and "Big Night".
• Following "Scream", he portrayed Orson Welles in the HBO movie "RKO 281", earning Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.
• He continued to take on supporting roles in notable studio films such as "Ransom" (1996), "The Hurricane" (1999), "A Walk on the Moon", the 2000 movie adaptation of "Hamlet", and "The Sum of All Fears", where he portrayed a spy.
• The 2004 remake of "The Manchurian Candidate", featuring Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep, garnered significant attention due to its release during a heated presidential election cycle.
• He also starred in the 2006 remake of the horror classic, "The Omen", alongside Julia Stiles. 
• In 2001, he played the time-traveling ex-boyfriend of Meg Ryan in "Kate & Leopold", sharing the screen with Hugh Jackman.
• In addition to his screen work, he is highly regarded as a classical actor. The New York Times lauded his performance in the Shakespeare play Cymbeline in 1998 as "revelatory," with a plea for more of his Shakespearean portrayals. 
• The following year, he earned similar praise for his portrayal of the title role in "Hamlet" during a revival at The Public Theater. 
• He further showcased his Shakespearean prowess by playing Laertes in the 2000 film adaptation of "Hamlet." 
• In 2003, his portrayal of "Henry V" in a Central Park production drew acclaim from The New Yorker's critic John Lahr, who praised Schreiber's swift delivery and convincing ability to create language in the moment. 
• Later, from June to July 2006, he took on the title role in "Macbeth" alongside Jennifer Ehle at the Delacorte Theater.
• His commanding voice has graced numerous documentaries, including those aired on PBS series such as "American Experience", "Nova", and "Secrets of the Dead" from 2001 to 2011. 
• He became the voice of Infiniti's television commercials and narrated the BBC/WGBH documentary "Rock & Roll" in 1995, as well as the official film of the 1994 World Cup, "Two Billion Hearts". 
• He also lent his narration to HBO's Sports of the 20th Century documentaries, the "Countdown" and "24/7" series for HBO Boxing, and the "Masters of the Universe" reboot as Skeletor. 
• He provided compelling narration for various History Channel specials and the History Channel's "America: The Story of Us". 
• Additionally, he was the narrator for multiple seasons of HBO's "Hard Knocks", the National Geographic Channel's Hitler's "G.I. Death Camp", and other thought-provoking documentaries like "Kinderblock 66: Return to Buchenwald" and "Money for Nothing: Inside the Federal Reserve". 
• He also showcased his vocal talents in commercials, including the 2018 Kia Stinger GT commercial.
• In the late 1990s, he aspired to produce and direct an adaptation of "The Merchant of Venice", starring Dustin Hoffman. 
• During this period, he even began writing a screenplay about his relationship with his Ukrainian grandfather, but later abandoned the project when he felt Jonathan Safran Foer's novel "Everything Is Illuminated" handled a similar theme more adeptly. 
• Despite this, Schreiber pursued his passion for filmmaking and wrote and directed a film adaptation of a short story from Foer's novel, released in 2005. 
• His theatrical pursuits were also met with acclaim, as he won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Richard Roma in the Broadway revival of Glengarry Glen Ross. 
• In 2006, he joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
• Schreiber's acting talent was further showcased in various films and television shows, including "The Painted Veil", "The Omen", and a four-episode arc in "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation". 
• He also received praise for his role in Eric Bogosian's "Talk Radio" and was nominated for Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards. 
• In 2010, he returned to Broadway in "A View from the Bridge", earning a Tony nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Play. 
• Additionally, he lent his distinctive voice to narrate documentaries, such as "Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle", which premiered on PBS in October 2013.
• In 2015, he co-starred in the critically acclaimed film "Spotlight", which earned the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. 
• He later showcased his talent on Broadway, co-starring alongside Janet McTeer in "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" as the cunning seducer Vicomte de Valmont from October 2016 to January 2017. 
• That same year, he reprised his role as Ross "The Boss" Rhea in "Goon: Last of the Enforcers". 
• His involvement in the "X-Men" film universe was considered during the development of "Logan", but the character of Victor Creed was ultimately not included in the final screenplay. 
• In 2017, he lent his voice to the Storm King, the main antagonist in "My Little Pony: The Movie", wanting to provide a child-friendly option for his kids after their exposure to his adult-oriented movie work. 
• In 2018, Schreiber was part of the ensemble cast in the animated film "Isle of Dogs" and voiced the supervillain Kingpin in "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse." 
• The following year, he had supporting roles in "A Rainy Day" in New York and Human Capital, where he also served as a producer.
• He made his second collaboration with Wes Anderson in "The French Dispatch", portraying an unnamed talk show host. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on July 12, 2021, and was theatrically released in the United States on October 22, 2021.
• In addition to his film work, he took on the leading role of Colonel Richard Cantwell in the film adaptation of "Across the River and Into the Trees", a role originally intended for Pierce Brosnan. 
• After starring in the drama series Ray Donovan for seven seasons, Showtime concluded the series in 2020. However, to provide closure to the story, a Ray Donovan film was released in January 2022, with Schreiber co-writing the script alongside director David Hollander.
• He is now set to return to Broadway, starring in the revival of John Patrick Shanley's "Doubt." He will portray Father Flynn, while Tyne Daly takes on the role of Sister Aloysius Beauvier. The production is produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company and directed by Scott Ellis.
• In 2023, he stars as Henry Kissinger in the film "Golda," which is currently in post-production. He is also involved in "Asteroid City," playing the character J.J. Kellogg, but the project's status is not specified.

Liev Schreiber Awards and Achievements

• 2005 Tony Awards: Won Best Featured Actor in a Play for "Glengarry Glen Ross"
• 2010 Drama Desk Awards: Won Outstanding Actor in a Play for "A View from the Bridge"
• 2015 Detroit Film Critics Society Awards: Won Best Supporting Actor for "Spotlight"
• 2015 Gotham Independent Film Awards: Won Ensemble Performance for "Spotlight"
• 2015 Independent Spirit Awards: Won Robert Altman Award for "Spotlight"
• 2015 Satellite Awards: Won Best Cast in a Motion Picture for "Spotlight"
• 2015 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Won Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for "Spotlight"

Liev Schreiber Girlfriend & Children

Liev Schreiber remains unmarried but is currently in a loving relationship with the stunning model Taylor Neisen. The couple has been together since 2017 and is happily enjoying their time together. Liev is now expecting his third child, which will be Liev's first with Taylor Neisen. The duo is cherishing their present life together and embracing the joy of their growing family. He is straight when it comes to his sexual orientation. 

Schreiber had a romantic involvement with British actress Naomi Watts, with whom he shared the screen in The Painted Veil. They have two sons together named Alexander Pete also known as Sasha (b. 2007) and Samuel Kai (b. 2008). However, their 11-year relationship came to an end on September 26, 2016. Throughout his life, he has also been in relationships with Natane Adcock, Nadia Dajani, Courteney Cox, Kristin Davis, and Kate Driver, among others.

Liev Schreiber Net Worth 

Liev Schreiber is a multi-talented individual, excelling as an actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and narrator, with an estimated net worth of $45 million as of 2023. His prominent roles in various shows and movies have earned him widespread recognition. Currently, he earns an impressive annual income of over $4 million, predominantly stemming from his successful endeavors in the entertainment industry. With his substantial wealth, Liev enjoys a luxurious lifestyle befitting his achievements. 

Liev Schreiber Height & Weight

Liev Schreiber, the handsome actor, possesses a tall and slim build, standing at 6 feet 3 inches (190.5 cm) and weighing 84 kg (185 lbs). He has captivating dark brown hair, which he occasionally dyes to a lighter brown shade, and his striking blue eyes are complemented by a hint of green. Notable for his towering height and deep voice, Liev took on intense training for his role as boxer Chuck Wepner in the movie "Chuck." Under the guidance of fitness expert Don Saladino, his weight training routine included exercises like jump rope, dumbbell triceps extensions, barbell curls, and heavy-loaded carries. For his boxing training, guided by boxing expert Michael Olajide, Jr., Liev engaged in shadowboxing and jump rope exercises, enhancing his portrayal of a real-life boxer on screen. He has got a healthy body at present and he maintains his body a lot by doing frequent exercise.