You know our next guest from his roles in films like Walk on the Moon and Scream. He’s currently on stage at The Public Theater doing Hamlet. He’s also on HBO as Orson Welles in RKO21. Please welcome Liev Schreiver! 

[The audience applauds as Liev enters.]

Rosie O'Donnell : How are you Liev?

Liev Schreiber : I’m good, I’m good.

RO : I met you a long time ago

LS : I remember, with Nora.

RO : Yes, before my son was born, I was about to direct a movie.

LS : Yeah.

RO : And you came to the reading with Sarah Jessica Parker and you were wonderful.

LS  : Why did you direct that movie?

RO : I didn’t because my son was born and I wanted to spend time with him.

LS : Oh, right.

RO : Cause it takes about a year and a half of your life as you know.

LS : Yeah.

RO : But you are a wonderful actor.

LS : Thank you.

RO : You’re welcome. And I love the movie you did with Diane Lane this summer.

LS : Me too. [the audience begins to applaud]

RO : Yeah that was a beautiful – Walk on – Man on the Moon – Walk on –

LS : Walk on the Moon.

RO : Walk on the Moon. Did you have an affinity for that character because you so embodied him.

LS : It meant a lot to me. I was doing a movie called Sphere with Dustin Hoffman, he’s a guy I’ve always admired and always loved. And we kind of became friendly on it. And I was a little depressed at the time because I had lost my grandfather who was sort of a, you know, the male role model in my life that I loved a lot. I didn’t really know how to deal with it and then um, I was kind of depressed about that and Dustin brought me this script. And I read the script and it was one of those sort of serendipitous moments cause the character was essentially my grandfather, I mean exactly, I mean the entire history and story of the character was Alex. So it was one of those moments as an actor where you really get to sort of work something out, and it was terriffic.

RO : It showed in the performance, it was a wonderful performance.

LS : Thank you.

RO : You also were very funny in Nora Ephron’s Mixed Nuts.

LS : Eh.

RO : That was the first time I believe I saw you.

LS : You’re not showing anything are you.

RO : No we’re not, we don’t have that. [the audience laughs] You played a transvestite and a very good-looking one I might add.

LS : You could say that.

RO : Yeah, yeah, yeah.

LS : I didn’t think I was particularly attractive but I thought that was the point though, was that, you know, you get a big hairy guy to play a woman and it’s funny, I thought it was comedy.

RO : Right.

LS : But um, yeah that was horrible. [the audience laughs]

RO : Did you have to get waxed for it?

LS : I did, I was waxed. My entire body was waxed.

RO : That’s fun.

LS : It was really really really awful.

RO : It was awful. [the audience laughs]

LS : I don’t know if you do that.

RO : I did it once.

LS : I would never ever ever ever do that again.

RO : Ever, no matter what.

LS : It’s really horrible.

RO : Yeah.

LS : It’s really horrible. And I think the hair comes back thicker the second time.

RO : I think you’re right.

LS : Which is bad cause um, Mimi was talking to me about that you know and she called me, cause she said she read somewhere that I said the hair on my butt, it wasn’t actually the hair on my butt [audience laughs], it was the hair on my legs.

RO : The hair on your legs drew back twice as thick.

LS : But somebody printed in an article that I had waxed the hair on my butt and it came back thick and I just want to set the record straight that’s not true.

RO : Ok good. Your butt’s fine.

LS : I want them to know yeah.

RO : Ok good. Now although I wouldn’t know this I’ve heard you’re really good in the Scream movies but frankly I will not see them because they frighten me.

LS : I won’t see them either.

RO : Honestly?

LS : I hate scary movies.

RO : Liev, I knew you and I were gonna bond. [they clasp hands]

LS : I hate ‘em. I hate’em.

RO : You hate them. So do I.

LS : I hate ‘em. I’ve always hated ‘em.

RO : Now who do you play in this a bad guy?

LS : I don’t even know.

RO : You don’t know. [the audience laughs]

LS : I won’t look at ‘em.

RO : You don’t look at ‘em.

LS : When I was a little kid, all the boys used to go to the scary movies, cause that was the thing to do was the little boy he would show that you could sit through a scary movie. And you had to sit through the scary movie so I developed this technique that if you want to go to a scary movie I’ll tell you how to do it.

RO : Ok.

LS : Because you can’t cover your face cause if you cover your face you look like a coward.

RO : Right.

LS : And the problem is, I would cover my face, and that would work, but then I could hear it and it sounds scary too. So you gotta make a noise. But you gotta make a noise inside so that they can’t hear you making the noise so if you pout your tongue on the roof of your mouth and you kind of go, nnnnnnnnnnn [the audience laughs] like that. And then you put your feet on the seat up in front of you like this, and you can just get below your knees.

RO : Ohhhhh and so you don’t have to see or hear.

LS : So you just, nnnnnnnnnn [the audience laughs]

RO : That’s good, that is a very good tip [audience applauds]

LS : Through the whole movie, yeah, that works.

RO : Now do the people around you become annoyed when you do that?

LS : Well if you practice it, and you get real good at it, they can’t hear the nnnnnn.

RO : Oh really.

LS : Yeah and so, I’m not doing it really well right now but let me try it like, nnnnnnnnnnnnn

RO : I totally hear that just so you know.

LS : Ok [audience laughs]

RO : Alright but no but I still will try that next time.

LS : I haven’t done that in about 15 years so you know.

RO : I understand. I saw Burnt Offerings in seventh grade, I never got over it.

LS : Oh yeah.

RO : Yeah, Betty Davis.

LS : I wouldn’t go see that. Betty Davis actually scared me the worst, that Baby Jane, oh my god, oof.

RO : That scared me too, I saw it on the afterschool movie one night.

LS : Nightmares for years.

RO : Yeah the 4:30 movie remember that? Oh, please. Now you’re doing Hamlet my friend, a very big role to bite off. Was it intimidating for you?

LS : Yeah, you know, Orson Welles and Hamlet I thought, took a couple of light roles this year.

RO : You were wonderful in that. And it’s on HBO?

LS : Yeah.

RO : Yes it’s on HBO and it’s really you’re wonderful as Orson Welles in that.

LS : Thank you.

RO : It has aired once but it’s gonna air again. And, um, was it a challenge when they said Hamlet, did you think no way what am I insane?

LS : Heheh. Yeah, we did real well with a play called Cymbeline that we did in the Park and George Wolf, who’s a friend of mine said you know I’d like you to do another one and I though oh ok you know, cause I’m sort of a, you know I’m kind of a master of the small parts. So I thought, I looked at all the Shakespeares that I wanted to do and I tried to find the small parts and I went into his office and he said uh, I was ready to talk to him about Winter’s Tale, there’s a little part in there that I like. And he said « Ok so I want you to do Hamlet ». It’s like you know, um, huh uh, can I go to the bathroom you know, I went to the bathroom, I came back I was like, ok.

RO : Ok.

LS : I had no idea thought, how, like, physically demanding that show is.

RO : Yeah. And mentally, frankly I don’t understand it. [laughs in the crowd]

LS : Well, you don’t have to.

RO : You don’t have to?

LS : No you don’t have to.

RO : Really?

LS : You just say it. You just say it. Yeah. There’s some people, they just understand you. And there’s some that just understand Shakespeare. You’re playing it for them.

RO : I never got it. I never did.

LS : I know I heard that.

RO : Yeah. I went to see one thing in the Park, The Twelfth Night or something.

LS : And you didn’t get that.

RO : Not even for a minute.

LS : Not even any of the jokes or anything?

RO : No. I was asking for Cliffnotes [Liev and the audience laugh]. Honestly I would wait till other people laughed and then I’d go haha, so nobody would think I was stupid, you know what I mean. But I’m really stupid about that, I can’t -

LS : No. You know, I’ll tell you something about it. I think that, our subconscious minds absorb a lot more than we know.

RO : Right.

LS : A lot more than we know and that’s the sort of wonderful thing about these plays that been around for 300 years, and every generation does these plays and they have a different meaning to every generation. And I think, part of the thing about verse plays it because of the rhythm of the verse, I think that we absorb it, we absorb the information. Andrei Serban, the director, told me that he was in Romania or somewhere in Europe, using a cab, and the taxi driver asked him what gate he was going to, and he said 2B. And of course the cab driver said « or not to be ».

RO : Right. So it translates no matter where you are.

LS : Yeah and he said well how did you know that, he said well that, he didn’t know what play it was but, it’s just in him.

RO : But he knew the line. I know that line. That, I don’t really understand it but I know it. And I’m gonna come see you in this because my brother saw it and said you were absolutely amazing.

LS : Oh yeah?

RO : If he got it maybe I can get it.

LS : Ok good.

RO : There you go. Liev Schreiber. It’s very nice to have you here.

LS : Thank you.

RO : Happy holidays. Good to see you again. We’ll be right back after this break, don’t go away. [the audience cheers]