In Defiance, Liev Schreiber stars as one of the heroic Bielski brothers who saved hundreds of Jews from Nazis during World War II. When we saw him at the Nextbook.org-sponsored Cinema Society screening on Monday, we asked if he’d committed any acts of bravery in his own life. “I made love to a chicken in a cabaret in graduate school,” he replied without hesitation. “It was called A Post-Apocalyptic Tryst,” he said. Liev’s lady-friend, Naomi Watts, was just as impressed as we were.
“That’s brilliant,” she gushed. “You thought of that off-the-cuff.”
“It’s not thinking quickly,” said Schreiber. “It really is the bravest thing I’ve ever done. I mean, honestly, I’m not that brave. But I did that in front of a lot of people.” He continued, sounding almost nostalgic:
“There wasn’t, like, penetration or anything, but I wined and dined the chicken, and then I made out with the chicken.” Then, breaking from his reverie, he clarified: “The chicken wasn’t live; it was, like, a Perdue.”
Watts still couldn’t think of her most daring moment. “I knew you were coming to me,” the Oscar-nominated actress said, rolling her eyes. “I don’t have anything.”
“You’ve done some brave things,” Schreiber reminded her. “Sammy,” he said, referring to the couple’s son, born last month.
“Oh yeah, having a baby,” Watts said. “Well, do we need those details?” she asked. We shook our heads.
“Well, if you had seen it,” Schreiber said to us meaningfully, “You would understand how brave it was.”
