Liev Schreiber praises Naomi Watts in last interview before celebrity split

IT was the celebrity break up no one saw coming. And just days before the shock split, Liev Schreiber was happily talking about their romance.

Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts pose on the red carpet before the premiere of their movie The Bleeder on September 2, just weeks before the shock split. Picture: Tiziana Fabi

WHAT a difference a weekend can make.

After more than 11 years together, Hollywood couple Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber have announced their separation.

“Over the past few months we’ve come to the conclusion that the best way forward for us as a family is to separate as a couple. It is with great love, respect, and friendship in our hearts that we look forward to raising our children together and exploring this new phase of our relationship,” read a statement released to ET.

“While we appreciate your curiosity and support, we ask the press to be mindful of our children and respect their right to privacy.”

Yet last Friday afternoon, Schreiber, 48, was painting a different picture to news.com.au in New York, where he was busy promoting his acclaimed drama series, Ray Donovan.

In an exclusive chat, he spoke to news.com.au about his love — and even obsession — for Watts, 47, with whom he stars in the upcoming movie, The Bleeder.

The pair has had a busy few months, promoting the upcoming film and seen hand-in-hand on the red carpet during the Venice Film Festival.

Unfortunately, appearances are not always what they seem and their relationship has apparently been on the rocks for some time.

They will co-parent their two sons, Alexander (Sasha) Pete, eight, and Samuel Kai, seven.

Hollywood marriages are notorious for their short-lived unions and outside pressures of fame certainly don’t help.

Schreiber gave only a small indication there was trouble in paradise, telling news.com.au, “I think all actors are victims of success. There’s an inherent problem with fame.” But largely he spent most of the interview talking up Watts and, in particular, their first date.

Naomi Watts with her children Alexander (Sasha) Pete and Samuel Kai. Picture: Marc Piasecki/GC Images

“I was very nervous, I was very intimidated, I was very impressed,” Schreiber said of his first meeting with Watts.

“I was a huge Mulholland Drive fan, it was one of my favourite pieces of cinema, and it was this movie that I would just watch over and over again.

“I was a little obsessed with her,” he admitted, despite the couple’s statement reading the couple’s relationship had crumbled “over the past few months”.

“When we first met, it was very awkward. I met her at the Met Ball (The Metropolitan Museum of Arts annual costume event), and she said to me, ‘Do you want to go dancing?’ And thank God she was forward,” he laughed during the interview.

“I said, ‘Yeah, I will go dancing!’ And if I wasn’t already intimidated enough just by being at the Met Ball, I went down to the club where she was sitting with Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro.

All smiles at the premiere of The Bleeder during the 73rd Venice Film Festival at Sala Grande on September 2 in Venice, Italy. Picture: Pascal Le Segretain

End of the dream: Watts and Schreiber on September 2. Picture: Pascal Le Segretain

“Two of my favourite actors who I thought were both really handsome and both really, really talented. And she is sitting between them, and they are chatting her up and she is chatting them up. And I stood there like a lump on a log for probably 30 minutes holding a drink. Finally, I was just like, ‘This is ridiculous, I am way in over my head.’ So, I said to her, ‘I am sorry, I have got to go home.’ I was really uncomfortable.”

He pauses.

“And she chased me out of the place and said, ‘Don’t you want my number?’ She actually said digits. Which I was shocked to hear her be so ghetto,” he laughs.

“I was like, ‘Do you think I talk that way because I am from New York, or something?”

It was a fast romance which began two days later.

“I never ended up dancing with her that night but we went a couple of days later in the morning for some cupcakes at Magnolia (the bakery made famous by Sex and the City). And that was it.”

So what happened? Why the dramatic shift?

Small cracks had begun to show a few months ago, with the notoriously private Watts opening up about their relationship troubles in a candid interview with Los Angeles Confidential.

“Relationships are hard whether you’re famous or not. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have to work on it,” she revealed. “Being an actor doesn’t change anything.”

A month after this picture was taken, the pair announced a split. Picture: Gareth Cattermole

— Additional reporting by Bronte Coy

— Continue the conversation with Michele Manelis on Twitter @MicheleManelis

Originally published as Liev Schreiber praises Naomi Watts in last interview before celebrity split