Not that Schreiber initially leapt at the opportunity. “I was really scared of it,” he admits. “Those Holocaust movies terrify me—even having acted in two [1999’s Jakob the Liar and 2003’s Hitler: The Rise of Evil, a made-for-TV biopic] and directed one that could arguably be called a Holocaust film [2005’s Everything Is Illuminated, based on Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel].” His hesitancy wasn’t, as one might expect, about doing justice to the enormity of the events. “It’s that I think the genre is overdone. I question the intent a lot of times,” he says. But he admired the fact that Defiance wasn’t another narrative focusing on victimhood. “These guys, the Bielskis, were really violent guys. They were bullies before the war, and during the war they become heroes,” he says. “I thought that was a fascinating concept.”
Zwick says that he liked the idea of putting Schreiber, whom he calls “an enormously intellectual actor,” in the role of a man of very primitive strengths. “Asking him to do this part was asking him to throw a lot away,” says Zwick. “Liev took a very intuitive approach, letting his instincts rule, and he was really able to inhabit Zus.”
According to Schreiber’s costar Craig, who also has a stage background, the two felt an almost instant synchronicity. “There’s a shorthand you have with each other that comes from years of sitting in [theater] rehearsal rooms. We understood each other very quickly,” he says. “And when you’re working opposite somebody as good as Liev, it just cuts your job in half.”
Schreiber has never been the sort of actor who keeps his head down and simply follows direction, and he admits that in the past he’s had “explosive” arguments with other actors and producers. But Zwick, he says gratefully, took all his kvetching in stride. “I had a relationship with Ed where we could argue and talk about things. I love arguing,” he says. “I love having that creative discussion where, at the end of the day, you both feel better for having done it. Maybe it’s a typically Jewish thing, where you sort of go at each other.”
“One does well to listen to what he has to say,” says Zwick. “It’s never narcissistic with him. It’s always about problem solving or exploring the intention of the scene.”
Superbad director Greg Mottola, who directed Schreiber in the 1996 comedy The Daytrippers, recalls that the actor was constantly peppering him with questions about his character’s motivation during the 16-day shoot. (Schreiber played Parker Posey’s hilariously pompous boyfriend.) “It’s the kind of thing that can get misinterpreted as, ‘This actor’s a pain in the ass,’” says Mottola, now one of Schreiber’s best friends. “But I wish to God every actor I worked with cared that much.”
