Liev Schreiber Shares 'Corny Ritual' He Would Honor His Grandfather with Before Performances

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Liev Schreiber’s connection to whiskey is deeply personal.

The actor, 55, who recently launched his own whiskey brand,Sláinte Irish Whiskey, which he created with co-founder Richard Davies, spoke with PEOPLE about what called him toventure into the spirits industry.

“I have a series of heavy, personal stories with whiskey,” he says.

Years ago, his grandfather told him a story about whiskey that shaped some rituals early on in his career. “They used to believe that, the reason that it’s called spirits is because when you drank it, the spirit of the bottle would possess the person and that’s why they became drunk,” he says.

Since Schreiber wasn’t close with his father, he says he had a very strong bond with his grandfather and would pay homage to him with a “corny ritual” during his theater days.

“It was pretty powerful until I started getting too drunk,” he continues, laughing. “So I had to switch and it became red wine because I was so superstitious. I couldn’t stop toasting my grandfather.”

Jake Chessum/Sláinte Irish Whiskey

Whiskey also played a key role when Schreiber was in college and his father came back into his life after his parents' “acrimonious divorce” when he was a child.

“He came to see me with a bottle of whiskey, and the two of us drank almost an entire bottle of whiskey and…he talked mostly and cried a lot about the time that we had been apart and what had been going on in his head,” he recalls. “And so at that point in my life, I was not a big drinker, but I was introduced to this spirit.”

Sláinte, which translates to “good health,” is a term of unity that Schreiber finds so crucial to his connection to whiskey and, in turn, his own liquor company.

“The spirit of that idea really works for me. It really is trying to bring people together. And it really does do that,” he says. “And it really owns a warm place in my memory because of my father and my grandfather.”

Liev Schreiber Instagram

The Irish whiskey isn’t just about drinking good, but doing good as well. All funds from Sláinte’s limited edition, 18-year-old bottle ($499 each) will go towards Schreiber’s humanitarian organization,BlueCheck Ukraine, which offers assistance to those in areas of conflict.

“Now more than ever we’ve got to be supporting them with humanitarian aid,” he says. TheRay Donovanstar has been to Ukraine three times sinceRussia started the warin February. He recounts the moment he knew he needed to mobilize humanitarian support.

“And you could see in these guys' faces and you could certainly see in their children’s faces that they had no idea whether they were going to ever see them again. And I’m sitting there on the couch with my kids watching CNN thinking, ‘Could I do that?’ ‘Would I have the kind of courage it took to do that?'”

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After cooking a Passover meal for refugees in Poland throughJosé Andrés’ World Central Kitchen, Schreiber says the chef helped him get connected on the ground to help funnel aid to NGOs in Ukraine.

He’s met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and BlueCheck Ukraine has even helped the leader set up his own global aid initiative,United24.

As the winter months loom, Schreiber says global support for Ukraine is even more important, another reminder of why he decided to build a business based on bringing people together and helping those in need.

“At this point in my life, to be able to pivot my fame or celebrity into something that might matter to my kids in five or 10 years,” he says, “I’m wildly grateful for that.”

source: people.com