‘Ray Donovan’ Star Liev Schreiber Talks Family Life, Embarrassing Scenes And Season 3

Ray Donovan star Liev Schreiber has definitely had his fair share of success over the years. From his roles in Shakespeare’s Macbeth to playing Sabretooth in Marvel’s X-Men franchise, Schreiber has enjoyed a variety of different roles that each bring a new set of challenges. With Schreiber’s current role as L.A.’s favorite fixer heading into Season 3, the Tony Award-winning actor recently sat down with Vanity Fair and talked about his life and what has influenced his choices in acting.

Schreiber revealed that playing the villain is often his favorite role to play.

“Everyone says villains are thankless parts, but those are really the best roles,” Schreiber explained, adding that every character he has ever played has been influenced by his maternal grandfather, Alex Milgram.

Although Schreiber is certainly one of the more polished actors in Hollywood these days, he also revealed that his role in his very first movie — in which he played a suicidal transvestite in the 1994 movie, Mixed Nuts — was the origin of one of his most embarrassing moments on camera. While going over a dance scene with a co-star, Schreiber recalled how “inappropriate it would be if I got an erection while I was doing the fox-trot. … Sure enough, it happened.”

While Schreiber has taken on a number of different movie and television roles, he also revealed that he is most comfortable when performing on stage in front of an audience. “There’s nothing more exciting than that conversation you have with a live audience,” he stated.”It’s the best feeling in the world.”

Meanwhile, Schreiber is staying plenty busy with Ray Donovan as the hit show is currently in production for its highly anticipated Season 3. Although he calls NoHo in New York City home, his family splits time between Brentwood and Santa Monica after filming for Ray Donovan starts up.

When Schreiber isn’t working on-set with the cast and crew of Ray Donovan, he enjoys spending time with his children, who he is surprised turned out to be “such beautiful children.” Schreiber has two sons, named Alexander and Samuel, and he attributes their good looks to their mother, Naomi Watts.

Speaking of family, Schreiber’s half-brother, Pablo Schreiber, is an up-and-coming actor in his own right, and was recently nominated for a Tony award. Pablo is best known for his role as Pornstache in Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black.

Season 3 of Ray Donovan is set to premiere on July 12, 2015, on Showtime.

[Image Courtesy: Showtime]