Verbatim
Liev Schreiber
This highly respected actor appreciates his success — but has made a point of staying out of the limelight that comes with it.
by J. Rentilly
Liev Schreiber is not a movie star. True, he has appeared in more than two dozen films (including Scream, The Daytrippers, RKO 281, The Sum Of All Fears, and The Manchurian Candidate), leavening his imposing stature and booming voice with a vulnerability, humanity, and quiet sadness. But 41-year-old Schreiber, who is expecting a second child with Naomi Watts this month, has steadfastly avoided the pitfalls of celebrity by being grateful for his good fortune even as he questions its value to the rest of the world.
In the World War II drama Defiance (December 12), Schreiber teams up with director Edward Zwick and actor Daniel Craig. The movie tells the true story of three Jewish brothers who flee occupied Poland and hide in a dense forest, where they eventually form a village with other refugees and take up arms against the Nazis.
When did you know that
acting was something you
needed to do?
I never felt like it was something
I needed to do. At a very young
age, I knew I wasn’t very good
at the things you have to be good
at to be successful in the world — composure, mathematics,
social stuff. Everything you need
for success, I thought, were all
the things I was awful at. But
I did know I had a feel for other
things — music, literature,
rhythm. I just had no idea how
I would ever fit in, let alone
succeed.
When did you first
consider acting?
I played bass clarinet in the
school band for a while, and
we accompanied the junior
high school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
doing the Mendelssohn score.
I saw the kids up on stage acting
in the play, particularly the scene
where Bottom and Peter Quince
are doing the play within the
play, and I was so jealous of them.
In high school, I got to play
Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s
Dream myself, and I remember
getting laughs off of people.
That was about the best thing
that had ever happened in my
life. I had made people laugh.
Then I didn’t touch it again
until college.
What happened in college?
I started studying Brecht and
Shakespeare and found it all
really fascinating. I started
wondering if it was even possible
to make a living as an actor. I
didn’t think I could. Then I was
accepted into Yale, and I thought, “I don’t know, maybe I can make
a living at this.” I just kept going — didn’t stop to think about it too
much. I have to admit it feels like
I never stopped playing. My life
has just been a lark, one long
series of goofs. But I take goofs
very seriously.
You’ve been working on stage
and screen for over a dozen
years, but people know little
about you.
Actors need to retain a bit of
mystery. That is important.
Audiences should not be looking
at the actor when they go to the
movies. They should be looking
at the character. I believe in the
power of transformation, so I’d
prefer it if audiences weren’t
looking at me and thinking
about me or my life. I’d like
them to look at the character
and see themselves. It’s my job,
to a certain degree, to get people
thinking about their own lives,
not mine.
There’s a certain financial
reward to playing the celebrity
game, though.
But that cult of celebrity, that’s
not acting. That’s endorsing.
You’re endorsing yourself. “Here’s a plug for how goodlooking
I am. Buy my products.
They’re on the racks at your local
supermarket.” [Laughs.] For a lot
of people, acting is about how
beautiful they are. Audiences like
that to a certain extent, but the
real prize is when you give them
back themselves.
Defiance seems like a
good choice for you —
a compelling premise,
a challenging role, an
excellent cast.
I usually have a pretty hard time
with things that I’m in, and that
wasn’t the case at all with this
one. I’ve actually seen the film,
and I think it’s remarkable. What
I am so impressed with is that Ed
[Zwick] has told a unique story —
I don’t remember ever seeing a
film like this in the Holocaust
genre. Oddly enough, it kind of
reminds me of one of my favorite
movies, The Battle of Algiers. It
has a kind of personal feel, a
great sense of intimacy, that’s so
difficult to get in war movies.
After I saw the movie, I was so
grateful for the experience.
That must be a rewarding
feeling, especially after
spending five months of your
life in creative mode with 200
of your “closest friends.”
Acting’s not as difficult as some
people make it out to be. When I
really think about it, I can’t get
over my luck. The travel alone is
pretty outstanding. I get to go to
places like Eastern Europe, live in
these great hotels, visit these
countries, all expenses paid. It’s a
pretty cushy gig.
Like two of your earlier films,
Everything Is Illuminated —
which you directed — and
Jakob the Liar, Defiance pays
honor to your eastern European
heritage, your Jewish roots.
Honoring is part of it, but
it’s also exploring. Not really
knowing that much about the
culture or my family or my own
history even, I get really excited
by the opportunity to explore
the cultures and the characters
of my heritage.
It sounds like you’re on some sort
of an odyssey.
I think we’re all on that journey. It
sounds cliche, but I really believe the
truth about our lives is that we are on
an exploration of self. One of the
hugest clues we’re given is our family
and our close relationships. For me,
exploring those things and exploring
my intuitive memories, my fantasized
memories, and my imagination about
who my family is and where I come
from and who I am anyway is just as
compelling as the real story.
You once said that “all actors are
trying to repair damaged relationships.” What did you mean by that?
I don’t know if the relationships have
to be exclusively damaged ones. I
think that actors — speaking very
generally — are sensitive people,
people who feel things a little stronger
sometimes than the average person.
A lot of times, actors are trying to
re-create feelings they’ve experienced
because the event of feeling them was
so profound. So they re-create things
all the time. That’s not necessarily
only damaged or painful experiences,
but extraordinary ones too.
Apply that to your body of work.
Everything Is Illuminated was, on some
level, an attempt to rekindle and reexperience
an intimacy with my
grandfather, who was a huge part of
my life. I haven’t had a chance to feel
that since he died. Defiance is about
brothers, and my relationships in that
movie gave me a chance to rekindle
the intimacy with my own brothers,
the facts and the imagination. That’s
honestly the joy of acting: Not only do
you get to use these experiences, but
you also get to feel them all over again.
You’ve said that you never lost
the joy of being a child, of playing
good guys versus bad guys.
How could you not love playing
soldiers out in the woods? I did.It’s something that’s in the DNA of
most boys — and most men, really.
I’m not sure it ever goes away. As much
as I hate guns, if you put one in my
hand, I couldn’t help but want to do a
somersault and hide behind a tree.
I understand you had a fairly
unconventional childhood.
I can’t really tell, because I had it.
I’m not really sure I know what a
conventional childhood is.
You’ve referred to your mother
as a “highly cultured eccentric.”
You were named for Leo Tolstoy.
Your last name means “writer” in
German. No baggage there, right?
Well, yeah. I mean, maybe I should
have become a writer. [Laughs.] I firmly
believe that everyone’s got a great
story, whether or not they acknowledge
it or a journalist acknowledges it. It’s
impossible to survive in this life and
not have a good story. Just being alive
is such a remarkable thing. I have a
son now and I watch him walk and I
go, “Holy cow! How did he do that?” I
think it’s remarkable that we make it
to fifteen. I mean, I made it to fifteen.
That’s amazing. They should make a
movie out of that: I Made It to Fifteen.
You get some perspective on that when
you become a parent.
Parenthood’s a special thing.
Watch children — their innocence,
their lack of judgment. And they’re so
elegant. It’s incredibly cute and funny,
but it’s also so elegant. They’re not
making any judgment. That’s what I
find so amazing about it all. We could
learn a lot from them. And finding the
beauty in that is how it’s OK for me
that I don’t sleep anymore. I’ve got this
perfect, non-judgmental creature who
really experiences things in a pure
way, and I can learn a lot from this.
So it’s OK that I get up at four every
morning. I don’t know how long I’m
going to get by with that, but it’s
carried me through to today.
How does it feel to be considered one
of the top actors of your generation?
As I get older, I realize how fortunate I’ve
been. I see other actors trying to make it,
doing the dance, and I think, “Man, I
was really lucky.” I look at people who
aren’t actors, who live their lives and do
their jobs, who save people’s lives and
jobs, and I have a certain level of selfconsciousness
about what I do. In my own
estimation, I honestly don’t believe I’ve
amounted to as much as a doctor or a
fireman have.
The thing about acting is that you’re really just trying to have fun, and maybe that has an impact on people too. Maybe people are moved by what actors do, and that makes me feel a little more right with the world. But it’s hard to imagine that what I do is important because it’s so much fun. Important things are usually painful and difficult. Acting has never been like that for me.
Amid all the self-deprecating, we can
agree that art, and the people who
create it, can change lives, right?
I think it’s part of coming into my
40s. Enough of the Sturm und Drang.
It’s time to recognize how much fun
it’s been. Maybe this is just a phase too.
Maybe none of us think what we do is
important.
It’s remarkable how you continue
to reinvent yourself role after role.
It’s about embracing character. It’s about
allowing yourself to make mistakes. It’s
about taking risks. It’s about being ready
to make a fool of yourself. You have to be
ready to fail. You have to work with people
who are tolerant of your risks and failures.
And for me, it’s important to stay
close to theater and to New York. That’s
exposed me to a lot of wonderful actors,
and it’s also kept my profile just enough
below the radar so that audiences allow
me to be different characters.
J. Rentilly writes about literature
film, and music for a variety of
national publications.
Photo: Steve Granitz/Wireimage/Getty