Liev Schreiber on that shocking 'Ray Donovan' death, what makes him cry and fatherhood
"You know what makes me cry? Sports things," Schreiber admitted.
— -- Note: Major spoilers are ahead if you haven’t watched the latest season of Showtime’s “Ray Donovan.”
"Ray Donovan" star Liev Schreiber says the shocking death of Abby, his character Ray Donovan's wife, was a risk the show needed to take in its fifth season.
"There was no resistance from anybody. We all felt that it was important work to do, on a show where we try to do humanist, complicated stories. This felt right," Schreiber said in an interview on ABC News' "Popcorn With Peter Travers."
He added, "Look, you’re so lucky if your show has gone this long. You know? It’s such a blessing. I think at this point, everyone’s just sort of going with it and just happy to have the ride."
Watch the full interview with Liev Schreiber on ABC News' "Popcorn With Peter Travers" in the video above.
Schreiber said it was emotional for Paula Malcomson, who plays Abby, and the rest of the cast, after her character died. They were filming in New York, and Malcomson went straight to a bar, Schreiber said. The cast met her there after they finished shooting.
"It was an opportunity to give Paula a really extraordinary arc to work with this season, and she does incredible work on the show this season," Schreiber said.
Schreiber was nominated for an Emmy for Best Drama Actor this year for playing the series' titular character. It's his third nomination for "Ray Donovan."
"I love Ray. I think he is a really conflicted character. Like all great drama, there’s a real duality to him, tremendous weakness, which usually belies violence and rage. And I think we can all identify with those extremes, at times," Schreiber said.
And unlike his character, Schreiber said he is known to be brought to tears.
"Pulling my nose hairs out makes me cry. Yawning makes me cry," he joked. "You know what makes me cry? Sports things. I cry at races, and I’m not even a track and field guy, But when I see someone win a race in dramatic fashion, it always makes me cry. It’s very embarrassing. Also, boxing does that to me. If I see somebody come back from behind, it makes me really emotional."
Of course, playing such a serious character can prove difficult, but Schreiber says his sons help him leave his character and his emotions behind on set before he steps through the door at home.
"One of the best tricks for me to get rid of Ray is to come home and see the kids, because they don’t really give a crap what I’ve been doing all day, and that kind of shatters any illusions I have of being Ray," he said.
Schreiber shares two sons with his ex-girlfriend Naomi Watts. Watts and Schreiber announced in September 2016 that they were separating after 11 years together.
Schreiber said he's adjusting to being a dad since the separation.
"I'm back here [in New York]. I just fixed my place up, so they have their own separate bedrooms. So, you know, we’ll see. It’s exciting," he said.
And the family might also have two more four-legged additions: "I have to talk to Naomi about it, but I think we've just adopted two orphan puppies from Houston."
Being a father changed the actor's life, he said.
"One of the nice things about having kids -- and getting older, I suppose -- is that you come to a very intimate understanding of how, in fact, the world is not really all about you. And that, I am enjoying that to a degree," Schreiber said. "First it was a bit of a shocker, but now I’m adjusting to it. And I like it. I like being a dad. I like having them to focus my energy on, and I like trying to learn about them in the same way that I used to be trying to learn about myself."
It was as a child himself when he first found the motivation that led to him to pursue acting.
"I think I saw a lot of strange stuff as a kid, and I was fascinated by it. I was really interested," Schreiber said. "I think I felt like an outsider as a kid, and I think that desire to fit in and get inside was something that I noticed in a lot of actors. You observe behavior because you want to emulate. You want to join."
Schreiber said that as he pursues future projects, he wants to continue to challenge himself.
"Because it keeps it interesting, and I think there's also this stigma thing that you are as good as your last part. And I always want to know what I can do. I always want to know what else is available to me, both in the world of casting and in my own ability. I really don’t know what I can or can’t do until I try," he said.
Things that feel like a stretch, or unfamiliar, are what appeal to the actor, he said, because as the skills and roles become more and more familiar, "they become a part of your kit, a part of your arsenal."
He continued, "The reason I said yes to ‘Ray Donovan’ is that I knew it would be a crash course in filmmaking… that it would be a great way for me to intensely study film acting," he said. "And it’s been that."
Download the "Popcorn With Peter Travers" podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play Music and Stitcher.
Related Stories
ABC News Live