Liev Schreiber is grateful to have a happy home environment
The 47-year-old actor plays the title fixer for Hollywood's A-list stars in crime drama series Ray Donovan, which has gained several award nominations since its debut in 2013. Liev's alter ego is a lone wolf who he describes as "very damaged", and the star is pleased he can leave the troubled character behind at the end of the day and be with his family.
He and longtime partner Naomi Watts have two young sons, Sasha and Sammy, together and are rumoured to be walking down the aisle sometime in the near future.
"I have the greatest kids, I have such a happy home environment. If I didn’t have that, I don’t know how I’d do it. It’s hard to play someone who doesn’t have that," Liev explained to Variety. "It’s hard to play someone who’s so buried in their own pain and loneliness that they can’t let anyone else in. I really love Ray - but I don’t want to be him all the time."
Alongside taking care of business for Los Angeles' biggest celebs, Ray also has to deal with his troublemaker father Mickey (Jon Voight) when he makes an unexpected appearance after being released from prison. It's a complex storyline which Liev thrives in bringing to life, especially knowing it has such a big fan following.
"When I read the character, I thought it was an interesting take on contemporary masculinity. When you have that many good actors and that many good writers, it takes on a life of its own. After the first scene I knew I was in trouble - collectively we had something compelling, and I was going to have to figure out how to live in LA," he added.
"Some smart person once said that all TV is about family. I think there’s something true to that. In our case it’s very openly about family - the idea that families are torn by morality. It’s not easy to raise children in this contemporary, celebrity obsessed, anything goes culture. People vibe with that."
