Liev Schreiber Quotes

Powerful Liev Schreiber for Daily Growth

About Liev Schreiber

Liev Schreiber, born on April 4, 1967, in San Francisco, California, is an accomplished American actor, director, and screenwriter who has made significant contributions to the film industry. Growing up in a family with diverse backgrounds – his father was a tel Aviv-born cab driver, and his mother, a Quebec-born teacher – Schreiber developed an early interest in theater. He attended Boston University's College of Fine Arts, where he honed his acting skills. Schreiber made his professional acting debut in the 1995 Off-Broadway production of 'Aunt Dan and Lemon.' His breakthrough role came in 2000 as Keith Kosgrove in the critically acclaimed film 'The Pledge,' directed by Sean Penn. However, it was his portrayal of Carter Burke in James Cameron's 'Aliens' (1986) that first brought him to public attention. Schreiber gained wider recognition for his role as Ray Donovan, a professional "fixer" for the rich and famous, in the Showtime series 'Ray Donovan,' which ran from 2013 to 2020. His performance earned him three Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. Aside from acting, Schreiber is also a prolific writer and director. He has written and directed the films 'Everything Is Illuminated' (2005) and 'Take Down' (2009). In 2017, he directed and co-starred in the critically acclaimed HBO film 'Too Big to Fail,' based on the book of the same name by Andrew Ross Sorkin. Quotes: 1. "I don't think there are any rules for acting. It's about truth." 2. "I think I was always a little bit in awe of the world and people and the way they live their lives. And that's what attracts me to characters, the things they do to avoid dealing with the realities of their lives or to seek a better one." 3. "The most important thing is to be able at the drop of a hat to change directions – without a lot of anxiety, without a lot of difficulty and with as little self-consciousness as possible."

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Everything that's worthwhile in my life I've earned."

This quote by Liev Schreiber suggests a strong belief in self-determination and personal effort. He implies that the most valuable aspects of his life are those that he has worked hard to achieve or earn, rather than receiving them easily or relying on luck. It underscores the importance of perseverance, dedication, and the pursuit of one's goals to find personal fulfillment and success in life.

"Success is as terrifying as failure, and for exactly the same reasons: because it's so temporary."

Liev Schreiber's quote suggests that both success and failure carry an inherent fear due to their transient nature. The fear comes from the realization that neither state is permanent or guaranteed. Success may bring new challenges, pressure, or uncertainty about maintaining that level of achievement, while failure can be a catalyst for self-doubt or fear of repeating mistakes. This perspective encourages an understanding and appreciation of the impermanence of both triumphs and setbacks in life, promoting resilience, growth, and the pursuit of continuous learning and improvement.

"You need to believe in yourself before anyone else will."

This quote underscores the importance of self-confidence as a foundation for gaining confidence from others. It suggests that one's belief in oneself is crucial in establishing trust, respect, and acceptance in relationships, both personal and professional. Essentially, it implies that we must first believe in our abilities and worth before expecting others to do so.

"If you're not prepared to walk away, then you're not truly negotiation."

This quote by Liev Schreiber underscores that genuine negotiation requires a willingness to walk away from an unacceptable agreement or situation. When one is not fully committed to the possibility of ending negotiations, they may succumb to compromise on unfavorable terms due to fear of losing out, thus weakening their position and potentially damaging their interests in the long run. Negotiating with this mindset can lead to unsatisfactory outcomes or even exploitation. Therefore, maintaining a flexible yet resolute stance is crucial for successful negotiation.

"The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you have to feel and not hear, to know and not be told."

This quote highlights the importance of intuition, feelings, and personal experiences over explicit communication. Liev Schreiber suggests that while words can inform us, understanding and truly grasping important truths often requires a deeper connection, one that goes beyond what is said and taps into emotions and self-awareness.

The best gig is the one you've got.

- Liev Schreiber

Best, You, Got, Gig

Everyone assumes that novelists are smarter and more interesting. They're generally smarter and more interesting, but they're often very short. So it kind of cancels all the smart and interesting stuff out.

- Liev Schreiber

Everyone, Very, Novelists, Assumes

Hamlet is a remarkably easy role. Physically it's hard because it tends to be about three hours long and you're talking the whole time. But it's a simple role and it adapts itself very well, because the thing about Hamlet is, we all are Hamlet.

- Liev Schreiber

Role, Very, Hamlet, Remarkably

My grandfather was raising me, and in many respects, I was trying to understand what it meant to be a man. He was my role model.

- Liev Schreiber

Role, Meant, Raising, Many Respects

Everyone says villains are thankless parts, but those are really the best roles.

- Liev Schreiber

Everyone, Villains, Roles, Thankless

No, I grew up admiring people who played ice hockey.

- Liev Schreiber

Hockey, Ice, Up, Admiring

And I think for me there's a lot of neurosis involved with where you should be or thinking about where you are all the time instead of being where you are.

- Liev Schreiber

Think, I Think, About, Neurosis

I struggle with the idea of comparing people's work and art. The notion of giving awards or putting a competitive spin on something that is a relative art form is sort of odd to me.

- Liev Schreiber

Art, Idea, Putting, Odd

Style, no matter how outrageous it is, is still an expression of someone's personality. And my personality is somewhere stuck in the classics.

- Liev Schreiber

How, Expression, Still, Stuck

I'm misrepresented as a scary person. I'm not. It's all about my size and my eyebrows.

- Liev Schreiber

Size, Person, Eyebrows, Misrepresented

I remember finding 'Harold and Maude' strangely erotic. I've always had an octogenarian fetish.

- Liev Schreiber

I Remember, Always, Had, Harold

I have Slavic fat pads that make me look like a chipmunk and arched predatory eyebrows. With that, you're not going to get funny. That's why I play so many bad guys.

- Liev Schreiber

Play, Bad, Like, Pads

I did some research into what was going on in terms of the sexual revolution that was happening in the '60s in the gay community and particularly in the drag world. Before the '60s, guys doing drag would dress like their mothers or iconic Hollywood actresses.

- Liev Schreiber

Dress, Doing, Some, Sexual Revolution

I really never thought I was that good at film. And honestly still don't. My strength is language. My background is monologues and a certain kind of Brechtian spin on theater.

- Liev Schreiber

Thought, Still, Honestly, Monologues

My mother didn't let me see color films. I saw a lot of black-and-white films. The first time I saw Basil Rathbone, I was completely taken. To me, that was the epitome of great acting, was Basil Rathbone - not only in Sherlock Holmes, but the Sheriff of Nottingham, and all the terrible characters he had to play alongside Errol Flynn.

- Liev Schreiber

Color, Play, Epitome, Sherlock

During 'Manchurian Candidate' - that role originated with Laurence Harvey, and I studied everything he did. I would never be able to reproduce that performance, but I got a lot of ideas from watching it.

- Liev Schreiber

Role, Laurence, Studied, Harvey

If you are going to remake a film, you may as well remake a classic.

- Liev Schreiber

Classic, Going, May, Remake

I live with an 18-month-old Jack Russell named Chicken. He moved in about 15 months ago, and it was very hard at first because I work a lot and he doesn't.

- Liev Schreiber

Chicken, Very, Named, Jack

And you know, I hate to admit this, but I don't always think in terms of Shakespeare. When I eat, I do. When I'm at a restaurant, I'll think, 'Hmm, what would Macbeth have ordered?'

- Liev Schreiber

Think, Always, Ordered, Macbeth

There's nothing more exciting than that conversation you have with a live audience. It's the best feeling in the world.

- Liev Schreiber

Audience, Nothing, More, Live Audience

I went to school in Massachusetts at Hampshire College.

- Liev Schreiber

School, College, Hampshire, Massachusetts

You'd think true masculinity was just calm and collected happiness. So alpha male that it needs not or worries not. But typically masculine characters are always fighting, and most violence comes from some agitated level of fear and anxiety.

- Liev Schreiber

Some, Masculinity, Collected, Alpha

You watch a hockey game, and the hand-eye coordination and the speed is really miraculous; how those guys track the puck alone, just following it with their eyes.

- Liev Schreiber

Eyes, Game, Hockey, Puck

Entitlement is lethal.

- Liev Schreiber

Lethal, Entitlement

I am very good with dialects, but the two that I can't do for some reason are the South African and Australian.

- Liev Schreiber

Reason, Some, Very, South African

I think it's really, really important to mix it up as an actor, to try to get as much kind of varied experience as you can, not only for your own personal growth as an actor but for the audience to keep them guessing about what you're going to do.

- Liev Schreiber

Own, I Think, About, Mix

I manage to hide in my movies.

- Liev Schreiber

Movies, Hide, Manage

The worst bar fights I ever saw were in London. I saw a guy break a pint glass in another guy's face in a club in the Eighties. It was a gay club, too.

- Liev Schreiber

London, Glass, Fights, Pint

That's really how I got started was doing Shakespeare. When I got out of school, I was lucky enough to meet George Wolfe, who ran The Public Theater.

- Liev Schreiber

Doing, Lucky, Started, Ran

I think New York will always be this incredible international crossroads, and I don't think that will ever change.

- Liev Schreiber

Think, New, Always, International

My publicist told me not to talk about politics but, yes, I think we have a president who stole the election.

- Liev Schreiber

Politics, Think, I Think, Stole

I've never been a heavy practitioner of the method or, at least, with any specific intent; I'm kind of an impulse-based person. Like, I'm sort of waiting for something to happen that I'm not expecting, and I kind of want to jump on that train of emotion, whatever it is, both from myself or from the other actor.

- Liev Schreiber

Waiting, Other, Been, Train

You hear different things from different people, and they're all valid: they're all valuable. I think that's what comprises a performance is all those ideas.

- Liev Schreiber

Think, Different People, Different Things

I really don't think there is anybody in the business with better eyes than Elijah Wood.

- Liev Schreiber

Business, Think, Better, Wood

The funny thing is that I write and I act a lot about being Jewish, but I don't really think about it as a regular person.

- Liev Schreiber

Think, Funny Thing, I Write, Regular

No offense to the Canadians, but I believe location is like a character, and authenticity really matters. When you're in a place like New York or D.C., you just can't beat it, and it's so hard to recreate because they are both such distinctive places. I think it's pretty easy these days to tell films that are shot in Toronto.

- Liev Schreiber

Toronto, I Think, Offense, Canadians

When you're in a place like New York or D.C. you just can't beat it, and it's so hard to recreate because they are both such distinctive places.

- Liev Schreiber

New, Like, Recreate, Distinctive

I find old women at weddings and funerals attractive; I have this weird mortality thing.

- Liev Schreiber

Weird, Attractive, Old Women, Funerals

I think, the first time I played Iago at the Public Theater, I realized I had a - much to my chagrin - I realized I had an instinct for these conflicted characters, for these torn characters, for these characters who could be described as evil. I wouldn't describe them that way.

- Liev Schreiber

Instinct, I Think, Torn, Chagrin

The interesting thing about doing serial television is that the character is growing separate from you, the character and the show are growing, and you get to observe that and participate with it in a way that I think is actually really exciting for an actor.

- Liev Schreiber

Doing, I Think, Separate, Serial

I'm someone who started in the theater and really couldn't stand repeating the show. My favorite part of acting is the five or six weeks of rehearsal that you get. I like doing previews; I like the opening week because my friends and family come, and then after that, I don't want to do it anymore.

- Liev Schreiber

Doing, Favorite Part, Weeks, Repeating

I've got nothing against L.A. I think it is a really beautiful place. To be able to surf and get out in the Pacific Ocean every once in a while. The hiking, all of that is amazing. I love it there.

- Liev Schreiber

Love, Against, I Think, Pacific

I get panic attacks in big crowds.

- Liev Schreiber

Big, Get, Attacks, Panic

Well, I don't think I've ever been a huge target for the press, and I value that to a degree, because there's a certain value for actors staying beneath the radar so they can play characters.

- Liev Schreiber

Play, Think, Been, Radar

The guy who kind of broke the story in 'Spotlight' was a priest, the guy who had sort of done all the research. One of the things he said when one of the 'Spotlight' reporters asked him how he could still remain a Catholic, he said that, 'My faith is in the eternal, and the church is an organization.'

- Liev Schreiber

Faith, Church, Reporters, Catholic

That's one of the benefits of working on big budget films. You work with people who have a lot of experience and you get to learn a lot.

- Liev Schreiber

Big, Benefits, Films, Big Budget

My style was always intuitive. I never used to believe in working on your body. Anything that smacked of vanity to me was bad for your acting, but I learned that wasn't true.

- Liev Schreiber

Bad, Always, Learned, Intuitive

I'm terrible with big parties.

- Liev Schreiber

Big, Parties, Terrible

I was a writer. I just wasn't a very good one. I was lucky enough to have a playwriting teacher who told me that I'd be a better actor than I would a playwright.

- Liev Schreiber

Lucky, Very, Better Actor, Playwright

You know, I have a deep, deep affinity for Dr. Seuss.

- Liev Schreiber

Deep, Know, You, Affinity

The premise for me has always been that it's vulnerable people who do violent things. And the more vulnerable they feel, often, the more violent they are. But I think, you know, that's an idea that comes from history, from classical theater, for me.

- Liev Schreiber

Been, I Think, Violent, Premise

I'm a typically lazy person. It is sort of characteristic of actors.

- Liev Schreiber

Lazy, Person, Sort, Characteristic

We have to remember to respect the faith of people and maybe not the organizations or the groups that manifest around it.

- Liev Schreiber

Remember, Manifest, Maybe, Organizations

It's good to overexpose yourself with work. But don't expose yourself too much with the press.

- Liev Schreiber

Work, Yourself, Too, Press

I was always curious about motivation and intention, and really, that's a lot of what acting is.

- Liev Schreiber

Curious, Always, Lot, Intention

I was always curious about motivation and intention, and really, that's a lot of what acting is. I was a little bit different.

- Liev Schreiber

Motivation, Curious, Always, Intention

Actors, you know, they're often awkward people in real life.

- Liev Schreiber

Know, Awkward, Often, Real Life

I didn't think that a career in theater was very realistic so I thought the only thing I could make money doing and still be somewhat artistic was, god help me, advertising.

- Liev Schreiber

Career, Think, Very, Realistic

I'm drawn to people who share that sense of loss. All actors are trying to repair damaged relationships. I think that might be why I've been drawn to other actors.

- Liev Schreiber

Think, Repair, Been, Damaged

It's finding time for each other. That's the trick to any relationship, you know. Finding time to really be present for each other.

- Liev Schreiber

Finding, Other, Trick, Present

I had great teachers, great ensembles, and great companies to work with who supported my career.

- Liev Schreiber

Career, Teachers, Companies, Supported

I have the kind of face that people want to punch.

- Liev Schreiber

Face, Kind, Want, Punch

I find that the most interestingly written parts happen to be the bad guys.

- Liev Schreiber

Happen, Most, Interestingly, Bad Guys

I love my mother and father. The older I get, the more I value everything that they gave me.

- Liev Schreiber

Love, Mother And Father, Older

The skill set for hockey is so specific to skating and if you haven't been skating as a kid it's impossible to play - and I wasn't a skater.

- Liev Schreiber

Play, Hockey, Been, Skater

I'm kind of an obsessive-compulsive person, like, neat obsessive.

- Liev Schreiber

Kind, Person, Like, Neat

Film is such a bizarre vehicle for acting. It's such a bizarre experience. I don't think you ever really get familiar with it. If you do get familiar with it, you're probably not that good anymore.

- Liev Schreiber

Think, Film, Bizarre, Vehicle

Don't hit people; don't let it get you too angry; remember that everything you do can and will be used against you. And take a breath and have some perspective.

- Liev Schreiber

Will, Some, Against, Breath

As soon as you know what you're doing, you're doing it wrong. That's what I find with acting. As soon as it becomes padded, it becomes pat.

- Liev Schreiber

Doing, Find, Pat, Padded

I'm not that interested in working with impervious people.

- Liev Schreiber

People, Working, Interested, Impervious

Some actors need to be rattled and some need to be focused.

- Liev Schreiber

Need, Some, Focused, Rattled

I grew up in the Lower East Side of New York.

- Liev Schreiber

New, East, Side, York

I'm actually a very bad surfer, which is good because everybody likes a bad surfer. Nobody likes a good surfer.

- Liev Schreiber

Very, Actually, Which, Likes

I love having that creative discussion where, at the end of the day, you both feel better for having done it. Maybe it's a typically Jewish thing, where you sort of go at each other.

- Liev Schreiber

Love, Other, Having, Discussion

When my grandpa was moved to physical action, you felt utter terror.

- Liev Schreiber

Terror, Utter, Moved, Grandpa

Theater is consistent. You ride your bike to work. You get most of the day off so you can see your kids. My problem is that after three months, I go mad. One of the reasons I never thought I could do a TV show is that I hate doing the same thing over and over again.

- Liev Schreiber

Doing, TV, Reasons, Bike

I get very nervous around famous people and I get nervous around beautiful women.

- Liev Schreiber

Beautiful, Famous, Very, Beautiful Women

You always have to create the character from the ground up.

- Liev Schreiber

Character, Create, Always, Ground

If you fall in love with somebody you're working with, fine, but wait till your project is over.

- Liev Schreiber

Love, Wait, Over, Somebody

There's the private persona and the public persona and the two shall never meet.

- Liev Schreiber

Never, Private, Public, Persona

You should never ask actors about politics.

- Liev Schreiber

Politics, Never, Should, Ask

I was always drawn to tough girls. I liked that domineering thing.

- Liev Schreiber

Tough, Always, Thing, Drawn

Part of what I enjoy about the theatre and acting is that sense of history.

- Liev Schreiber

Enjoy, Part, About, Theatre

Where else do you find great directors? Acting is one of the places.

- Liev Schreiber

Places, Find, Else, Directors

A lot of times in Hollywood you're as good as your last job.

- Liev Schreiber

Last, Lot, Times, Hollywood

As soon as you know what you're doing, you're doing it wrong.

- Liev Schreiber

Doing, Know, You, Soon

I am so used to being able to express myself from being an actor. So when people don't understand me, I'm just completely lost.

- Liev Schreiber

Myself, Understand, Used, Express

I think that everything I've ever done at some point is part of someone else's legacy.

- Liev Schreiber

Think, Some, I Think, Legacy

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