Liev Schreiber

A magnetic and intense actor with a booming voice who is often compared to Orson Welles, Schreiber has much in common with — and has also portrayed — the legendary Citizen Kane director. Raised on New York's Lower East Side, at times in a squat, Schreiber managed to pull himself out of poverty, earning a heady degree in semiotics from Hampshire College, then studying acting at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and at Yale University. Like Welles, Schreiber landed his first professional acting job in the United Kingdom (at Scotland's Edinburgh Festival) before he began appearing on stage and screen stateside, quickly establishing himself as a versatile character actor able to tackle everything from Shakespeare to slasher flicks. Initially he gained exposure in a string of supporting roles, often as the guy who doesn't get the girl, in myriad indies (Walking and Talking, Party Girl). But he hit the mainstream as a oddball falsely accused of murder in the smash Scream horror franchise. He continued to embody diverse characters, alternating effortlessly between theater and film, and earning an Emmy nod for his deft portrayal of Welles in the TV-movie RKO 281. Not traditionally handsome, he continued to play the other man in films, although off-screen he was linked to a number of beauties, including Kristin Davis and Naomi Watts. In 2004, his career kicked into overdrive as the lead in the critical success (if commercial failure) remake of The Manchurian Candidate. Instead of making a play to be Hollywood's next leading man, he returned to his stage roots in 2005 and won a Tony in the lauded revival of Glengarry Glen Ross, and also made his debut as a film director and screenwriter with the indie Everything Is Illuminated. Always up for new challenges, he signed on for his series television debut with a recurring role on CSI.