Liev Schreiber

Liev Schreiber began his acting career on stage, appearing in the comedic play Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) at the Classic Stage Company in 1992. He made his Broadway debut as Eliot in In the Summer House in 1994, opposite Frances Conroy. That same year, he made his feature film debut as Chris in Mixed Nuts. In 1995, he had supporting roles in Mad Love and Party Girl. His first leading film roles came in The Daytrippers and Walking and Talking, both released in 1996. He also appeared in Ron Howard’s Ransom in 1996.

Schreiber gained wider recognition for playing Cotton Weary in the Scream trilogy. He subsequently appeared in The Hurricane and A Walk on the Moon in 1999, as well as the HBO film RKO 281, in which he portrayed Orson Welles. His performance in RKO 281 earned nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film. He played Laertes in the 2000 film Hamlet and appeared in Kate & Leopold in 2001 and The Sum of All Fears in 2002. He also appeared in the 2004 film The Manchurian Candidate.

Schreiber's stage credits during this period included Cymbeline in 1998, Hamlet at The Public Theater in 1999, and Henry V in Central Park in 2003. He starred in Neil LaBute’s off-Broadway play The Mercy Seat in 2002 alongside Sigourney Weaver. He also wrote and directed the 2005 film Everything Is Illuminated, starring Elijah Wood.

As a narrator, Schreiber provided narration for Two Billion Hearts in 1994 and the BBC/WGBH documentary series Rock & Roll in 1995. From 2001 to 2011, he narrated documentaries for PBS series including American Experience, Nova and Secrets of the Dead. He narrated the HBO special Do You Believe in Miracles? The Story of the 1980 U.S. Hockey Team and served as the voice of HBO’s Sports of the 20th Century documentaries, HBO Boxing’s Countdown and 24/7 documentary series. He also narrated the History Channel specials Ape to Man, The Lost Kennedy Home Movies and America: The Story of Us. His additional narration credits included Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals and Broad Street Bullies in 2010, Runnin' Rebels of UNLV in 2011, the Making of Pumping Iron documentary, Hitler's G.I. Death Camp in 2011, Kinderblock 66: Return to Buchenwald in 2012 and Money for Nothing: Inside the Federal Reserve in 2013. He also narrated HBO’s 24/7: Road to the Winter Classic for the 2011, 2012 and 2014 editions. Schreiber has narrated HBO’s Hard Knocks, except for the 2007 season. He provided voiceover for a Kia Stinger GT commercial in 2018 and has also been the voice of Infiniti television commercials.

In 2005, Schreiber returned to Broadway as Richard Roma in the revival of Glengarry Glen Ross. He won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for the role. In 2006, he played Charlie Townsend in The Painted Veil and Robert Thorn in The Omen. He also portrayed Michael Keppler in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation during the 2006–07 season, appearing in a four-episode arc. He played a social worker in the HBO film Lackawanna Blues in 2006.

Schreiber played Macbeth opposite Jennifer Ehle at the Delacorte Theater in 2006. In 2007, he appeared on Broadway as Barry Champlain in the revival of Talk Radio, earning the Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance as well as Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations. He also played Lotario Thurgot in Love in the Time of Cholera in 2007. In 2008, he portrayed Zus Bielski in Defiance. In 2009, he played Victor Creed in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and appeared in Taking Woodstock. He also played the head of the CIA in Salt, released in 2010.

In 2010, Schreiber returned to Broadway as Eddie Carbone in A View from the Bridge, opposite Scarlett Johansson. He received a Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Play. He also played Ross “The Boss” Rhea in Goon in 2011 and returned to the role in Goon: Last of the Enforcers in 2016.

Beginning in 2013, Schreiber starred as the title character in the Showtime crime drama series Ray Donovan. He also worked on the series as a writer, director and producer. The series ran for seven seasons and concluded in 2020. In 2013, he portrayed Lyndon B. Johnson in The Butler and appeared in Fading Gigolo. He narrated the PBS documentary Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle in 2013. In 2014, he portrayed chess grandmaster Boris Spassky in Pawn Sacrifice. In 2015, he played Boston Globe journalist Martin Baron in Spotlight, earning a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture with the film’s ensemble.

In 2016, Schreiber starred as professional boxer Chuck Wepner in Chuck, which he also wrote and produced. He returned to Broadway that year as Vicomte de Valmont in the revival of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, which ran from October 2016 to January 2017. He also portrayed Victor Lustig in the television series Drunk History in 2016. In 2017, he voiced the Storm King in My Little Pony: The Movie.

Schreiber was part of the ensemble voice cast of Wes Anderson’s animated film Isle of Dogs in 2018 and voiced Kingpin in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse that same year. In 2019, he had a supporting role in A Rainy Day in New York and starred in Human Capital, on which he also served as a producer.

Following the conclusion of Ray Donovan in 2020, Schreiber co-wrote the screenplay for Ray Donovan: The Movie with director David Hollander. The film was released in 2022. Schreiber also appeared in Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, released in 2021, as an unnamed talk show host. He played the lead role of Colonel Richard Cantwell in the film adaptation of Across the River and into the Trees. In 2021, he appeared in Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up.

Schreiber reunited with Wes Anderson for Asteroid City in 2023. That year, he portrayed Henry Kissinger in Golda and Otto Frank in the National Geographic historical miniseries A Small Light. In 2024, he returned to Broadway in the Roundabout Theatre Company revival of Doubt, directed by Scott Ellis, initially appearing as Father Flynn opposite Tyne Daly and subsequently Amy Ryan.

Schreiber also voiced Sam Fisher in the Netflix series Splinter Cell: Deathwatch.