Father doesn't always know best.
Liev Schreiber, a 2025 Critics Choice Award nominee for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie for Netflix's The Perfect Couple, almost skipped the whole ceremony, not thinking he'd be the one hearing his name called out of his stacked category.
But lo and behold, he won. So, needless to say, he's glad he picked out a suit and went.
"Thank you to my beautiful wife, Taylor, and my son Sasha for convincing me to come," Schreiber said in his acceptance speech. "I told them that there’s no way on God’s earth in that company that I would win this award." (See all the winners at the 2025 Critics Choice Awards.)
His fellow nominees, for the record, were Robert Downey Jr. for The Sympathizer, Hugh Grant for The Regime, Logan Lerman for We Were the Lucky Ones and, both posthumously, Ron Cephas Jones for Genius: MLK/X and Treat Williams for FEUD: Capote vs. The Swans.
So yeah, some talent, but Schreiber was no slouch in his own twisted dysfunctional family thriller.
"I am very, very grateful," he continued, "and I think it really comes down to [director] Susanne Bier, Nicole Kidman, Dakota Fanning—an extraordinary ensemble of actors. So thank you very much, and to the critics, thank you."
Incidentally, also at Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, Calif., as a Best Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie nominee was his ex-partner, FEUD: Capote vs. The Swans star Naomi Watts, with whom he shares sons Sasha, 17, and Kai, 16. (And Sasha actually accompanied his mom on the red carpet.)
Watts is now married to Billy Crudup, while Schreiber wed Taylor Neisen in 2023. He also shares an 18-month-old daughter with Neisen.
Schreiber and Watts have had a famously amiable co-parenting relationship since breaking up in 2016 after 11 years together, even costarring in the 2017 film Chuck.
"I think people are going to be very pleasantly surprised by Naomi in this picture," he told CNN upon the movie's release.
And, ironically, being exes actually meant it was easier to work together. “Any chance that I get to work with Naomi is great,” Schreiber explained. But when they were a couple, "when one was working the other one had to watch the kids. So, it was really difficult doing a film together because neither of us was at home.”
See who else went home a winner from the 2025 Critics Choice Awards:
Best Picture
A Complete Unknown
WINNER: Anora
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Nickel Boys
Sing Sing
The Substance
Wicked
Best Actor - Film
WINNER: Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown
Daniel Craig – Queer
Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
Hugh Grant – Heretic
Best Actress - Film
Cynthia Erivo – Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón – Emilia Pérez
Marianne Jean-Baptiste – Hard Truths
Angelina Jolie – Maria
Mikey Madison – Anora
WINNER: Demi Moore – The Substance
Best Supporting Actor - Film
Yura Borisov – Anora
WINNER: Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
Clarence Maclin – Sing Sing
Edward Norton – A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce – The Brutalist
Denzel Washington – Gladiator II
Best Supporting Actress - Film
Danielle Deadwyler – The Piano Lesson
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor – Nickel Boys
Ariana Grande – Wicked
Margaret Qualley – The Substance
Isabella Rossellini – Conclave
WINNER: Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez
Best Comedy Film
TIED WINNERS: A Real Pain
TIED WINNERS: Deadpool & Wolverine
Hit Man
My Old Ass
Saturday Night
Thelma
Best Young Actor/Actress
Alyla Browne – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Elliott Heffernan – Blitz
WINNER: Maisy Stella – My Old Ass
Izaac Wang – Didi
Alisha Weir – Abigail
Zoe Ziegler – Janet Planet
Best Acting Ensemble
Anora
WINNER: Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Saturday Night
Sing Sing
Wicked
Best Song
“Beautiful That Way” – The Last Showgirl – Miley Cyrus
“Compress / Repress” – Challengers – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
WINNER: “El Mal” – Emilia Pérez – Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Camille
“Harper and Will Go West” – Will & Harper – Kristen Wiig
“Kiss the Sky” – The Wild Robot – Maren Morris
“Mi Camino” – Emilia Pérez – Selena Gomez
Best Drama Series
The Day of the Jackal (Peacock)
The Diplomat (Netflix)
Evil (Paramount+)
Industry (HBO | Max)
Interview with the Vampire (AMC)
The Old Man (FX)
WINNER: Shogun (FX / Hulu)
Slow Horses (Apple TV+)
Best Actor in a Drama Series
Jeff Bridges – The Old Man (FX)
Ncuti Gatwa – Doctor Who (Disney+)
Eddie Redmayne – The Day of the Jackal (Peacock)
WINNER: Hiroyuki Sanada – Shogun (FX / Hulu)
Rufus Sewell – The Diplomat (Netflix)
Antony Starr – The Boys (Prime Video)
Best Actress in a Drama Series
Caitriona Balfe – Outlander (Starz)
WINNER: Kathy Bates – Matlock (CBS)
Shanola Hampton – Found (NBC)
Keira Knightley – Black Doves (Netflix)
Keri Russell – The Diplomat (Netflix)
Anna Sawai – Shogun (FX / Hulu)
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
WINNER: Tadanobu Asano – Shogun (FX / Hulu)
Michael Emerson – Evil (Paramount+)
Mark-Paul Gosselaar – Found (NBC)
Takehiro Hira – Shogun (FX / Hulu)
John Lithgow – The Old Man (FX)
Sam Reid – Interview with the Vampire (AMC)
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
WINNER: Moeka Hoshi – Shogun (FX / Hulu)
Allison Janney – The Diplomat (Netflix)
Nicole Kidman – Special Ops: Lioness (Paramount+)
Skye P. Marshall – Matlock (CBS)
Anna Sawai – Pachinko (Apple TV+)
Fiona Shaw – Bad Sisters (Apple TV+)
Best Comedy Series
Abbott Elementary (ABC)
English Teacher (FX)
WINNER: Hacks (HBO | Max)
Nobody Wants This (Netflix)
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Somebody Somewhere (HBO | Max)
St. Denis Medical (NBC)
What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Best Actor in a Comedy Series
Brian Jordan Alvarez – English Teacher (FX)
WINNER: Adam Brody – Nobody Wants This (Netflix)
David Alan Grier – St. Denis Medical (NBC)
Steve Martin – Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Kayvan Novak – What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Martin Short – Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Best Actress in a Comedy Series
Kristen Bell – Nobody Wants This (Netflix)
Quinta Brunson – Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Natasia Demetriou – What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Bridget Everett – Somebody Somewhere (HBO | Max)
WINNER: Jean Smart – Hacks (HBO | Max)
Kristen Wiig – Palm Royale (Apple TV+)
Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Paul W. Downs – Hacks (HBO | Max)
Asher Grodman – Ghosts (CBS)
Harvey Guillén – What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Brandon Scott Jones – Ghosts (CBS)
WINNER: Michael Urie – Shrinking (Apple TV+)
Tyler James Williams – Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Liza Colón-Zayas – The Bear (FX / Hulu)
WINNER: Hannah Einbinder – Hacks (HBO | Max)
Janelle James – Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Stephanie Koenig – English Teacher (FX)
Patti LuPone – Agatha All Along (Disney+)
Annie Potts – Young Sheldon (CBS)
Best Limited Series
WINNER: Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
Disclaimer (Apple TV+)
Masters of the Air (Apple TV+)
Mr Bates vs the Post Office (PBS)
The Penguin (HBO | Max)
Ripley (Netflix)
Best Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made For Television
WINNER: Colin Farrell – The Penguin (HBO | Max)
Richard Gadd – Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
Tom Hollander – FEUD: Capote vs. The Swans (FX)
Kevin Kline – Disclaimer (Apple TV+)
Ewan McGregor – A Gentleman in Moscow (Paramount+)
Andrew Scott – Ripley (Netflix)
Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television
Cate Blanchett – Disclaimer (Apple TV+)
Jodie Foster – True Detective: Night Country (HBO | Max)
Jessica Lange – The Great Lillian Hall (HBO | Max)
WINNER: Cristin Milioti – The Penguin (HBO | Max)
Phoebe-Rae Taylor – Out of My Mind (Disney+)
Naomi Watts – FEUD: Capote vs. The Swans (FX)
Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television
Robert Downey Jr. – The Sympathizer (HBO | Max)
Hugh Grant – The Regime (HBO | Max)
Ron Cephas Jones – Genius: MLK/X (National Geographic)
Logan Lerman – We Were the Lucky Ones (Hulu)
WINNER: Liev Schreiber – The Perfect Couple (Netflix)
Treat Williams – FEUD: Capote vs. The Swans (FX)
Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made For Television
Dakota Fanning – Ripley (Netflix)
Leila George – Disclaimer (Apple TV+)
Betty Gilpin – Three Women (Starz)
WINNER: Jessica Gunning – Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
Deirdre O'Connell – The Penguin (HBO | Max)
Kali Reis – True Detective: Night Country (HBO | Max)