Isaac Liev Schreiber (born October 4, 1967) is an American actor, born in San Francisco, California. At the age of 1, his family moved to Canada, due to his parents divorce, but at 4, he moved to New York City, where he grew up. His mother, who now lives in an ashram in Virginia, forbade him from seeing color movies as he grew up. His favorite actor, then, was Charles Chaplin. As a child, Liev was considered a rebel. Liev attended high school with actress Amanda Peet. When he was a senior, she was a freshman.

His mother claims that she named him after her favorite author, Leo Tolstoy, while his father claims that Liev was named after the doctor who saved his mother's life. His nickname, adopted by his mother is "Huggy".

Liev is 6'3" and has four half brothers and a half sister. One of his brothers, Pablo, is an actor and amateur rapper. He is also accompanied by a Jack Russell terrier named Chichen. Liev enjoys basketball, fencing, cycling, and played football in the past.

Schreiber started acting at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He graduated from the Yale University School of Drama in 1992. He also attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He originally wanted to be a screenwriter, but was steered toward acting instead.

Schreiber had several small roles until his big breaker, as the accused murderer Cotton Weary in the horror film Scream and it sequels, Scream 2 and Scream 3. He portrayed the young Orson Welles in the HBO original movie RKO 281 , for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award, and appeared as Laertes in the 2000 movie version of the William Shakespeare play Hamlet.

He has done narration work in a number of documentaries, many of them aired as part of PBS series such as American Experience and Secrets of the Dead . He recently starred in The Sum of All Fears . 2004's remake of The Manchurian Candidate was another major film for the actor, stirring some controversy as it opened during a heated presidential election cycle. He is also completing his first directed and screenwritten film starring Elijah Wood, called Everything Is Illuminated , scheduled to be released in 2005. In the spring of 2005, he will star as Richard Roma in the Broadway revival of David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Glengarry Glen Ross.

Filmography

• The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
• The Sum of All Fears (2002)
• Spring Forward (2002)
• Kate & Leopold (2001)
• Do You Believe in Miracles? (2001)
• Scream 3 (2000)
• Hamlet (2000)
• The Hurricane (1999)
• A Walk on the Moon (1999)
• Jakob the Liar (1999)
• RKO 281 (1999)
• Sphere (1998)
• Phantoms (1998)
• Twilight (1998)
• Since You've Been Gone (1998)
• Scream 2 (1997)
• His and Hers (1997)
• The Sunshine Boys (1997)
• Scream(1996)
• Big Night (1996)
• Ransom (1996)
• The Daytrippers (1996)
• Walking and Talking (1996)
• Buffalo Girls (1995)
• Denise Calls Up (1995)
• Party Girl (1995)
• Mixed Nuts (1994)