Liev Schreiber Movies
Displaying the kind of off-kilter charm that makes him a natural for leading roles in independent films and character parts in mainstream features, Liev Schreiber has made a name for himself on both circuits. Born October 4, 1967, in San Francisco, Schreiber was raised on New York's Lower East Side. A graduate of Hampshire College in Massachusetts, he initially wanted to become a writer, but later decided to try his hand at acting, training at both London's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Yale School of Drama.Schreiber's first acting job was on Broadway, where he appeared in In the Summer House. More theater work followed and in 1994, the actor made his film debut in the Steve Martin comedy Mixed Nuts. The film was an unequivocal flop, although Schreiber's role as a rather muscular transvestite proved to be one of the picture's few memorable features.
His next project, the 1995 indie Denise Calls Up, fared a little better; despite almost non-existent box-office ratings, it was rewarded with critical approval. Following more minor film work, he landed the role of a British bouncer in the successful indie flick Party Girl (1995), which also starred nascent indie queen Parker Posey. Schreiber got an introduction to a more mainstream audience thanks to his role as killer Cotton Weary in Wes Craven's mega-hit Scream, a role he reprised in the film's sequel, Scream 2 (1997). The same year, Schreiber had leading roles in two more independent films, The Daytrippers (which again paired him with Posey) and Walking and Talking, as well as a secondary role in the bloated Mel Gibson thriller Ransom.
Deftly straddling the divide between Sundance and the studio, Schreiber went on to make three major mainstream pictures in 1998: Phantoms, with Rose McGowan and Ben Affleck; Twilight with Susan Sarandon, Paul Newman, and Gene Hackman; and Sphere with Samuel L. Jackson, Sharon Stone, and Dustin Hoffman. The following year, Schreiber returned to more familiar territory with his role in Tony Goldwyn's small but successful drama A Walk on the Moon. As the man Diane Lane cuckolds for Viggo Mortensen, Schreiber mined endless possibilities from what could have been a narrow role, giving his character the sort of charming, good-intentioned inadequacy that became one of the actor's trademarks.
In 2000, Schreiber returned to the role of Cotton Weary a third time to close out the Scream franchise. It was around this time that he also began doing a considerable amount of voice-over work, mainly for PBS's NOVA series. As the decade progressed, Schreiber continued to be a presence in bigger mainstream projects, such as the 2002 adaptation of Tom Clancy's The Sum of All Fears. Two years later, he could be seen in another high-profile, politically tinged thriller, this time opposite Denzel Washington in director Jonathan Demme's remake of The Manchurian Candidate.
In 2005 he made his directorial and screenwriting debut with Everything Is Illuminated, and appeared in the critically acclaimed, Golden Globe-winning HBO movie Lackawanna Blues, a life-affirming film about a selfless black woman (played by S. Epatha Merkerson) in 1950s segregated New York who provides a home and a guiding hand to the youths who come to live at her boarding house. His 2006 project would be quite a departure from this sweet, poignant tale, as Schreiber took the role of Robert Thorne in John Moore's remake of the 1976 horror classic The Omen. Heavily publicized for its "666" release date (June 6th, 2006), the film pleased horror fans, as did Schreiber's performance as husband to Julia Stiles and father to the infamous Damien, a little boy who seems to harbor an evil that at best makes him disturbingly cold and at worst, places him at the crux of the devil's own plan for hell on Earth.
Schreiber next went into production on The Painted Veil, an adaptation of the novel by W. Somerset Maugham. Playing the playboy whom Naomi Watts cuckolds her husband with, the actor immersed himself in the part for the drama.
Meanwhile, a return to the stage in the lauded revival of Glengarry Glen Ross not only earned Schreiber a Tony award, and in 2005 he made his debut as a film director and screenwriter with the indie Everything Is Illuminated. Always up for new challenges, he played the role of the comic-book supervillain Sabertooth in the 2009 summer blockbuster X-Men Origins: Wolverine. In addition to his acting, Schreiber also has a lucrative career narrating documentaries and commercials. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
- 1999
Just days after Hollywood released The China Syndrome, a film about the possible meltdown of a nuclear power plant, life closely imitated art and a reactor at the Three Mile Island nuclear power facility near Harrisburg, PA, suddenly overheated. Tension, panic, and fear embroiled the area for a week as scientists scrambled to prevent a nuclear meltdown. It was the worst nuclear accident in American history. More than 100,000 residents fled the area. Narrated by Liev Schreiber, American Experience: Meltdown at Three Mile Island carefully re-examines step-by-step this national disaster which still haunts many Americans, and which dealt a crippling blow to the nation's nuclear power industry. ~ Brooke Hodess, Rovi
When RKO Pictures began work on production number 281, no one could have imagined that they were making perhaps the greatest American film of all time. But the moment Orson Welles (played by Liev Schreiber) announced that he intended to make a film based on the life of tyranical multi-millionaire publisher William Randolph Hearst (James Cromwell), they knew that they had trouble on their hands. Welles, the enfant terrible of American theater and a household name thanks to his infamous radio adaptation of H.G. Wells's "The War Of The Worlds," was signed to direct films for RKO, and he was given an unusually free hand to make whatever sort of film he wanted. But what Welles didn't count on was the power of Hearst to keep his film from being seen. RKO 281 is based on the true story of the making of Citizen Kane and the war of words between Welles and Hearst. It also stars Melanie Griffith as Hearst's mistress Marion Davies, John Malkovich as screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, Brenda Blethyn as Hearst's movie columnist Louella Parsons, and Roy Scheider as George Schaefer. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Liev Schreiber, James Cromwell, (more)
In 1966, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter was a top-ranked middleweight boxer whom many fight fans expected to become world champion. When three people were shot to death in a bar in Paterson, New Jersey, Carter and his friend John Artis, driving home from another club in Paterson, were stopped and questioned by police. Although the police asserted that Carter and Artis "were never suspects," a man named Alfred Bello, himself a suspect in the killings, claimed that Carter and Artis were present at the time of the murders. On the basis of Bello's testimony, Carter and Artis were convicted of murder, and Carter was given three consecutive life sentences. Throughout the trial, Carter proclaimed his innocence, saying that his African-American race and work as a civil rights activist were the real reasons for his conviction. In 1974, Bello and Arthur Bradley, who also claimed that Carter was present at the scene of the crimes, recanted their testimony, but Carter and Artis were reconvicted. In the early 1980s, Brooklyn teenager Lesra Martin worked with a trio of Canadian activists to push the State of New Jersey to reinvestigate Carter's case; in 1985, a Federal District Court ruled that the prosecution in Carter's second trial committed "grave constitutional violations" and that his conviction was based on racism rather than facts. Carter was finally freed, and he summed up his story by saying, "Hate got me into this place, love got me out." The Hurricane is based on Carter's incredible true story and stars Denzel Washington as Carter, Vicellous Shannon as Lesra Martin, and John Hannah, Liev Schreiber and Deborah Unger as the Canadian activists. Veteran filmmaker Norman Jewison directed. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Denzel Washington, Vicellous Shannon, (more)
This Nova program grapples with the truly big questions of science -- what is the universe's structure, what lies beyond the limits of our "sight," and how can we predict the ultimate fate of the universe? The film uses as its main focal point a recent discovery that space is not only expanding but actually accelerating outward. Two competing teams of scientists discuss the meaning of this phenomenon, as well as the methodology that they use to make such discoveries -- tasks like measuring the brightness and the "redshift" of supernovae, as well as irregularities in the microwave background radiation. The program uses high-definition 3-D simulations to demonstrate leading theories (such as the theories of inflation and of "dark energy") about the behavior and fate of matter in the universe. ~ Sarah Welsh, Rovi
The third installment of the HBO series When It Was a Game focuses on the 1960s, an era of great change for the game of professional baseball. This volume features some of the first color baseball footage available, including the 1938 World Series at Wrigley Field in Chicago. In addition to showcasing superb talents of the day like Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, and Joe DiMaggio, this program also documents the progression of baseball from its days as a simple form of recreation to its state as a multi-billion-dollar entertainment industry. The vintage film footage and commentary from baseball aficionados Bob Costas and Billy Crystal give the viewer a good idea of what baseball was like when it was a game. ~ Sarah Block, Rovi
- Starring:
- Liev Schreiber
- 2000
Bill Russell was one of the most successful players in the history of American basketball. In college, he led the University of San Francisco's team through a 55-game winning streak, and as a member of the Boston Celtics, alongside coach Red Auerbach, he helped guide the team to eight consecutive NBA championships between 1959 and 1966. Russell was also a passionate and outspoken champion for civil rights; he became the first African-American to coach in the NBA when he took over for Auerbach in 1967, and he led many players in their protests against unfair and unequal treatment of Black athletes during the early 1960s, including returning his keys to the city of Marion, Indiana, to the mayor after he and his teammates were denied proper service in a restaurant. Bill Russell: My Life, My Way explores Russell's life and career as both an athlete and an activist, with the reclusive Russell discussing himself on-camera, alongside contributions from his family, friends, and teammates, including Auerbach, Jim Brown, Bob Cousy, John Thompson, and Tom Heinsohn. Liev Schreiber narrates. Bill Russell: My Life, My Way was produced for HBO Sports, which first aired the documentary on April 17, 2000. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Playwright and character actor Tom Gilroy made his feature directorial debut with this dialogue-driven character study set against the backdrop of the changing seasons. Liev Schreiber plays Paul, a short-fused ex-con who finds unlikely comfort, stability, and camaraderie when he takes an odd job in park maintenance. On his first day, he's teamed with Murph (Ned Beatty), a groundskeeping veteran who manages to defuse an outburst between Paul and their snide supervisor (Campbell Scott). Paul sticks with the job, and, as the months pass, he and Murph work their way through events both mundane and monumental, all the while sharing their hopes, regrets, and ambitions. Shot in sequence over a one-year period, Spring Forward received a third-place mention for best first feature at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ned Beatty, Liev Schreiber, (more)
- 2000
This made-for-cable documentary traces the intimate relationship between professional athletics and sexuality over the past century. From the use of sex appeal in the marketing of sports to the private lives of athletes both straight (legendary womanizer Wilt Chamberlain) and gay (Billie Jean King, whose career was derailed by a lesbian palimony suit), the film looks at sexuality as both a commercial aspect of sports in general and a personal issue for the athletes themselves. Former Laker Girl and pop star Paula Abdul discusses the ascension of cheerleading to a national passion after the advent of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, while tennis legend Martina Navratilova gives a feminist perspective on the success of young sexpot Anna Kournikova. Archival footage and new interviews with everyone from boxer Sugar Ray Leonard to Sports magazine editor Dick Schaap are interspersed with commentary and actor Liev Schreiber's narration. Playing the Field: Sports and Sex in America premiered December 20, 2000, on HBO as part of the network's "Sports of the 20th Century" series. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
William Shakespeare's classic tale is brought to the screen for the third time in ten years in this modernized interpretation. Writer/director Michael Almereyda updates the story to the present day, where Hamlet (Ethan Hawke) is a struggling filmmaker whose personal and familial trials are set against the machinations of a huge production firm called the Denmark Corporation. Joining Hamlet as he seeks revenge for the death of his father and the wedding of his mother to an enemy are Kyle MacLachlan as Claudius, Julia Stiles as Ophelia, Bill Murray as Polonius, Sam Shepard as the ghost of Hamlet's father, Diane Venora as Gertrude, Steve Zahn as Rosencrantz, and Dechen Thurman as Guildenstern. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ethan Hawke, Kyle MacLachlan, (more)
Wes Craven's Scream (1996) was a half-parody/half-tribute to the first wave of slasher films of the 1970s and 1980s, and since most of them spawned a large number of sequels, it's only appropriate that Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson produced a third installment of their Scream franchise. Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), traumatized by the brutal murders of her friends, has left her hometown of Woodsboro and is working in California as a crisis intervention counselor. Meanwhile, "Stab," the novel by Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox Arquette), is spawning a series of successful horror films, and as Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro is being filmed in Los Angeles, a lunatic has gotten his hands on a copy of the script, and is murdering the characters in the same order that they die in the movie. But predicting who will die next is not as simple as it might seem, since the producers have circulated three different screenplays, with different endings. In addition to Campbell and Cox-Arquette, David Arquette returns from the first two films as less-than-bright "Dewey" Riley; new members of the cast include Parker Posey, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Foley, and Jenny McCarthy. Kevin Williamson wrote the original story, but the screenplay was penned by Ehren Kruger. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Arquette, Neve Campbell, (more)
Filmmaker James Mangold follows his Oscar-winning drama Girl, Interrupted (1999) with this whimsical fantasy. Meg Ryan stars as Kate McKay, a modern female executive in New York City whose drive to succeed in the cutthroat corporate world has left little time for romance. When her genius ex-boyfriend Stuart (Liev Schreiber) opens a portal in time, the experiment transports Leopold (Hugh Jackman) from 1867 to the present day. A charming bachelor and the royal "Third Duke of Albany" in his own time, Leopold is fascinated by the 21st century. As the courtly Leopold and the decidedly liberated Kate tour the town, a mutual attraction develops into something deeper, a relationship that's threatened by Leopold's temporary chronological status. Kate & Leopold (2001) was originally developed by co-screenwriter Steve Rogers as a project for star/producer Sandra Bullock, who had a hit with his film Hope Floats (1998). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Meg Ryan, Hugh Jackman, (more)
- 2001
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The decades-long scientific quest to develop a less hazardous cigarette is examined in this program from the PBS series, NOVA. Directed by Carl Charlson, NOVA: Search for a Safe Cigarette features discussions with scientists as well as tobacco researchers and manufacturers to trace the history of these efforts and make predictions for what the future holds. Several "alternative cigarettes" that have been developed over the years are looked at. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
Nova gained an exclusive when it secured the story rights to the life of Dr. Judah Folkman. The controversial cancer treatment pioneer tells all about his dramatic struggle to erase the disease from the planet. Folkman began unraveling the cure for cancer when he was a surgical resident. Through his work to find a substitute for transfusable blood, Folkman made an important discovery about the growth of cancer cells. Forty years later, the determined doctor is still chopping through dense scientific foliage to find a successful treatment. Nova explores the triumphs and setbacks of America's foremost cancer warrior. ~ Sarah Ing, Rovi
- 2001
This episode of the popular PBS series takes an in-depth look at the events surrounding the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. Nineteen people were convicted of witchcraft and executed. Over 150 others were imprisoned for varying periods of time. The witch trials are a shining example of mass hysteria, and the lessons they teach are still valuable today. ~ Rob Ferrier, Rovi
- Starring:
- Liev Schreiber
- 2001
This episode of the popular PBS series takes an in-depth look at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, long thought by many Christians to be the tomb of Christ before his eventual resurrection. An English couple investigates the truth behind the myths and tries to shed some light on the events of that long ago day, as well as other issues of the Crucifixion. ~ Rob Ferrier, Rovi
- Starring:
- Liev Schreiber
- 2002
Following the Civil War, Grant considered returning to civilian life. Racial violence in the South, however, along with President Andrew Johnson's ineffectual leadership, led the ex-soldier into politics. Beginning in March 1869, Grant would serve two presidential terms. Although he attempted to focus his administration on Reconstruction, Westward expansion, a Depression in the 1870s, and corruption within his own administration sidetracked his plans. When Grant left the White House in March 1877, it was under a cloud of suspicion. In May of the same year, he and his wife left for England, beginning a two-and-a-half-year trip that would take them around the world. Grant entered business with his son and investor Ferdinand Ward upon his return. Although a great deal of money was earned in the beginning of their venture, Ward's unsavory dealings, of which the Grants knew nothing, led to bankruptcy. After Grant discovered he was ill with throat cancer, he decided to write his memoirs as a way of providing for his family once he was gone. While director Adriana Bosch doesn't shy away from Grant's faults, she does offer a positive portrayal of his presidency. Ulysses S. Grant also includes interviews with historians and biographers. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., Rovi
- 2002
This 60-minute cable TV documentary places the sensational murder trial of ex-football star O.J. Simpson in context with American race relations of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Deliberately courting controversy, the filmmakers opine that, up until his arrest on suspicion of murder in 1994, Simpson was not perceived as an archetypal African-American by either the black or the white community; he was nothing more nor less than a fabulously handsome and immensely talented sports celebrity. Once Simpson was placed on trial, however, the race card was played (or, rather, overplayed) on both ends of the color spectrum: Black activists labeled Simpson a "spokesman" for his race and regarded the trial as "payback" for the thousands of African-Americans who have been unfairly treated by the country's judicial system, while white observers now perceived the formerly idolized Simpson as merely another "bad black man." Among those interviewed in O.J.: A Study in Black and White are black athlete-turned-actor Jim Brown, advertising executive Jerry Burgdoerfer, and sports sociologist Dr. Mary Jo Kane. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Liev Schreiber, Jim Brown, (more)
- 2002
A Brilliant Madness chronicles the life of mathematician and Nobel Prize winner John Nash. Born in Bluefield, WV, the eccentric Nash joined the prestigious math department at Princeton in the late '40s. In 1950, at the age of 21, he developed the Nash Equilibrium, a challenge to traditional game theory that would prove revolutionary to economics. No one, however, recognized its importance at the time. After receiving his doctorate, Nash began teaching at M.I.T. where he met and married Alicia Larde. He was frustrated, though, by the slow progress of his career and began to exhibit signs of mental imbalance. He claimed that aliens were sending him coded messages and that his picture was on the cover of Life disguised as the Pope. Nash was committed for a short time to McLean Hospital where he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. For the next 20 years, Nash suffered from the disease until he slowly began to recover in the 1980s. In 1994, he received the Nobel Prize for his work in game theory and resumed his work at Princeton University. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., Rovi
- Starring:
- Liev Schreiber
The successful franchise of Paramount motion pictures based on novelist Tom Clancy's techno-thrillers featuring heroic CIA intelligence analyst Jack Ryan stages a much-publicized "do-over" with this action-adventure that recasts the character of Ryan as a rookie to the complex game of geopolitical warfare. Ben Affleck takes the reins from Harrison Ford as Ryan, a greenhorn CIA historian and analyst who finds himself thrust front and center into the spy community's spotlight when Nemerov (Ciaran Hinds), a Russian politician on whom Ryan is an expert, suddenly becomes the leader of the former Soviet Union upon the current president's unexpected demise. Attached to the director of the CIA, Cabot (Morgan Freeman), Ryan insists -- contrary to the opinions of many high-ranking White House officials -- that Nemerov is not a warmonger. Meanwhile, a cadre of neo-fascists, led by Dressler (Alan Bates), plots the detonation at the Super Bowl in Baltimore, MD, of a nuclear device recovered from a long-ago Israeli fighter jet crash, a terrorist incident they intend to spark a war between the super powers, leaving them to conquer the world in the conflict's post-apocalyptic vacuum. The Sum of All Fears co-stars James Cromwell, Bridget Moynahan, and Liev Schreiber as covert operative John Clark, a character central to another series of Clancy's best-selling tomes. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, (more)
- 2002
Ulysses S. Grant was born the son of a tanner and little distinguished him as a young man. He attended West Point at his father's insistent, but felt ill suited for demands of military life. When the Mexican-American War erupted in 1846, Grant served beside many officers who later fought for the Confederacy. He was transferred to the far West after the war, but quit the army in 1854 to reunite with his family. He farmed land for a short time, worked as a clerk for his father, and invested in a number of schemes; he made little money, however, and his business ventures failed. When the Civil War began in 1861, trained officers were needed. Grant received a brigadier general's commission and although he distinguished himself quickly, enormous casualties, first at Shiloh and later at Cold Harbor, made him controversial. President Lincoln nonetheless chose Grant to head the Union Army in 1864, bestowing upon him the rank of lieutenant general, the first to receive the title since George Washington. Ulysses S. Grant includes interviews with prominent historians and film footage of Civil War battlefields. Part 1 ends with Lincoln's assassination on April 14, 1865. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., Rovi
- 2002
Originally broadcast on PBS, NOVA: Secrets, Lies & Atomic Spies attempts to uncover the nearly 300 Americans who spied for the Soviet Union during the 1940s. De-classified reports from the National Security Agency reveal the identity of several Soviet spies living and working for the U.S. government. Narrated by Liev Schreiber, this program features interviews with family members of the accused as well as information about the complex Venona espionage coding system. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- 2002
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Galileo Galilei was one of the first truly revolutionary men of science; between 1585 and 1638, this pioneer was one of the first to employ mathematics to determine laws of motion, develop a telescope to help chart the heavens, observe the movements of stars and planets, and declare that the Earth moved around the sun, rather than the sun around the Earth. While many branded Galileo as a dangerous heretic in his day, today he's regarded as the father of modern physics and astronomy. Galileo's Battle for the Heavens stars Simon Callow as the great scientist; he reconstructs and re-creates many of the crucial moments in Galileo's career, and explains the methods behind his pioneering work. The film also examines letters Galileo wrote to his illegitimate daughter in which he discusses his personal feelings about his work and the measures taken to silence him. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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