Liev Schreiber: A Little Grit of What You Fancy

Following the fortunes of the titular character, a Southie fixer who relocates from Boston to Los Angeles, where he works for a high-end law firm and gets the wealthy and powerful out of sticky situations, the crime drama Ray Donovan has proven a big success for US cable network Showtime, which is also home to Dexter, Weeds and Homeland.

The pilot episode was Showtime’s biggest ever premiere, and the series subsequently won a Golden Globe for the performance of Jon Voight, who stars as Donovan’s father, Mickey. Season one of Ray Donovan ended with some dark secrets being revealed – including Ray’s childhood abuse at the hands of the priest Fr O’Connor – and also the shooting of the Whitey Bolger-style gangster, Sully (James Woods), by Mickey, which saved Ray’s life. Season two of Ray Donovan is shortly to commence in this part of the world on Sky Atlantic, and once again sees a fine performance from Liev Schreiber, whose intense portrayal of Donovan has elevated the character to the pantheon of great contemporary anti-heroes, such as Walter White, Don Draper and Tony Soprano.
So where do we pick up in season two following the shooting of Sully?
“Well, we’re dealing with the fallout of what happened at the marina, and the head of the LA office of the FBI is very interested in what went on,” explains Schreiber. “But in order to do that Ray needs to find Mickey and bring him back to Los Angeles, which obviously puts Ray in the uncomfortable position of having to deal with his father again. What separates this season from the first is a deeper thread for all of the characters now that secrets they were keeping have been revealed. These were very painful secrets, not just for Ray but for his entire family.”
 The central irony of Ray Donovan, of course, is that it revolves around a character whose profession involves fixing situations for others, but whose personal life is constantly on the verge of falling apart. Ray has a very conflicted relationship with his father (who is only released from prison with the proviso that he provides incriminating evidence on his son), in addition to which his wife hates her lifestyle and his daughter is going off the rails.
 Was it this aspect of the show, rather than the hard man element, which initially attracted Schreiber to the part?
 “Absolutely,” nods the actor, who has two children with his partner, actress Naomi Watts. “The question of what it takes to be a father in this contemporary society, particularly in the world of show business, is a question that I’m constantly confronted with and intrigued by. The notion of how to protect your family from the outside world, or if you should protect your family from the outside world, are themes that are universal for all people raising families and trying to maintain those relationships.”

There are a few new characters in the second season of Ray Donovan, including a reporter who arrives in LA looking to uncover more information about Sully.
“Vanessa Shaw plays Kate McPherson, a reporter from the Boston Globe. She comes to LA to find out what happened to Sully. She’s a very thorough and talented investigative reporter and gets closer to unwrapping the riddle of the situation than the FBI, so she becomes a real threat to Ray and Mickey.”
And could she have an impact on Ray’s marriage?
“Definitely,” he affirms. “Ray’s marriage is severely challenged, and Kate McPherson plays a big part in that. There’s also a theme running through this season that I was really excited about when the writers told me about it, and it’s about how now the secret has been revealed is that a good path? There’s a desire to be known and to be seen differently and I think that Ray is drawn to Kate McPherson in that way. Terry, Ray’s brother, had something like that happen in his relationship with Frances as well, and Abby, Ray’s wife, experiences it in another relationship that she has.
“It’s about being somebody else and to be known as an individual in a way that the person you’re in a relationship with doesn’t see you. People in relationships sometimes go through that anxiety. After you’ve been with somebody for a number of years, you can feel like you’re being ignored by them or not known by them in the way that you want to be known, so when opportunities to be different people present themselves to several characters, they go for it.”
Ray Donovan is a very male-dominated show, although Schreiber recoils at the notion that it’s a testosterone-driven set.
“I wouldn’t say that, it is run by a woman after all; this all stems from the mind of Ann Biderman who’s also the showrunner,” he notes. “It has a very male-driven narrative, but the perspective is very feminine. That’s one of the ironies and one of the great dualities that makes the characters work.”
Finally, what’s it like working with the legendary Jon Voight?
“He’s a very fun guy,” enthuses Schreiber. “He’s got a great sense of humour and one of the things I love about him as an actor is that he’s always out there on the edge, he likes to do crazy things. He has such a great attitude and enthusiasm, and to have accomplished everything he has, and at his age, to show up for work every day with that kind of enthusiasm is just totally inspiring. Shooting for 14 hours a day is tricky and every time Jon comes on set he’s like a breath of fresh air.”

Ray Donovan season 2 starts on July 15 on Sky Atlantic