Quick answer: Liev Schreiber was born Isaac Liev Schreiber on Oct. 4, 1967, in San Francisco, and goes by his middle name. This week he apologized on Late Night with Seth Meyers for what he called a "terrible tirade" at a reporter on the Oct. 20 New York red carpet for his Apple TV series Nocturne (USA Today via Yahoo). Nocturne, which premiered Oct. 30, is based on a novel by "Lars Kepler," the pen name of Swedish married authors Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril and Alexander Ahndoril (TribLIVE).
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Why Liev Schreiber is in the news
A clip of Schreiber lecturing a red carpet interviewer went viral the week before Nocturne's debut, and his late-night apology followed on Oct. 27, days before the show premiered.
What happened on the "Nocturne" red carpet
In a video TMZ published Oct. 21, Schreiber was seen scolding a reporter on the Nocturne red carpet in New York and telling her to "talk to people like they're humans" instead of chasing a soundbite, USA Today reported. The interviewer appeared to be working with Apple, and Schreiber could be heard calling the interview "in-house."
On Late Night, he owned it. "Mea culpa," he said. "I had a moment." He explained that the reporter, whom he called "lovely, charming," asked him to describe the show "in three words to a best friend quickly," and that "the redundancy of 'three words' and 'quickly' completely stumped me, and I went off on some terrible tirade about monkeys and profanity. And I apologize."
He said the two "got through it" and ended up having a nice chat about the show. He also joked that his mother called him afterward, and "the first words out of her mouth" were, "So what did you do?" (USA Today).
What is "Nocturne" about?
Nocturne is a serial killer thriller. Schreiber plays Jonah Lynn, a retired Philadelphia cop living in the fictional Western Pennsylvania town of Fairhaven. Stephen Graham plays the imprisoned killer Jurek Walter, with Zazie Beetz, Bill Camp, Rory Culkin and Chrissy Metz also starring. The first two episodes streamed Friday, Oct. 30, with new episodes weekly on Fridays through Dec. 25 (TribLIVE).
The show filmed around Pittsburgh, in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler and Westmoreland counties, and it leans into Pittsburghese. Graham told TribLIVE he "just nicked" the accents of the local crew, his driver and the Teamsters. Schreiber said his family stayed in Sewickley during filming and that he "did not expect to love" Pittsburgh, but did.
Who is Lars Kepler?
Nocturne is adapted from The Sandman, one of 11 novels in the Lars Kepler series about a Swedish detective, Joona Linna. "Lars Kepler" is not a real person. It's the shared pseudonym of Swedish husband-and-wife writers Alexander Ahndoril and Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril (TribLIVE). The show moves the story from Sweden to Western Pennsylvania.
FAQ
What is Liev Schreiber's real name?
His birth name is Isaac Liev Schreiber. He goes by his middle name, Liev, pronounced "LEE-ev."
Why did Liev Schreiber apologize?
For scolding a reporter on the New York red carpet for his Apple TV series Nocturne on Oct. 20, 2026. He apologized on Late Night with Seth Meyers, saying "Mea culpa. I had a moment."
When does Nocturne premiere on Apple TV?
Its first two episodes streamed Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, with new episodes on Fridays through Dec. 25.
Was Nocturne filmed in Pittsburgh?
Yes. It shot across Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler and Westmoreland counties, including Beaver, Butler, Vandergrift, Dormont, Monroeville and Warrendale.
Who is Lars Kepler in real life?
Lars Kepler is the pen name of Swedish married authors Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril and Alexander Ahndoril. Nocturne is based on their novel The Sandman.
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Names in this article: Liev Schreiber (Isaac Liev Schreiber) · Lars Kepler (Alexander Ahndoril and Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril) · Stephen Graham · Zazie Beetz · Bill Camp · Rory Culkin · Chrissy Metz