Liev Schreiber sharpens his Sabertooth in new Wolverine film
Posted: December 17, 2008, 3:08 PM by Bob Thompson
Liev Schreiber's more of a serious-minded indie fellow than a comic book action dude, but he's getting his Sabertooth villian on in the Hugh Jackman Wolverine origins movie set for a high-profile release on May 1.
As one of Marvel Comics craziest bad guys, Sabertooth was a challenge, says Schreiber who had to prepare for "the fantastic fight scenes" like he never had before. Certainly, he knew Jackman would be fit. So he worked out accordingly for the film
X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
"First of all Victor Creed is Sabertooth, and I just want everyone to know that my character has a name," he says smiling. "He's a person too."
Indeed, Creed/Sabertooth has a huge fan base, too. He just maybe one of the most popular Marvel nasties. And Schrieber admits he's aware of the Internet debates about whether he could pull off the difficult assignment of defining such a quintessential super-nasty.
So did he read the comics for research? "I read the comics before I got offered the part," says the 41-year-old. "I mean, I knew the character really well. Initially I'd been asked to play Stryker and I said, 'Is there any chance that I might be able to play this Victor Creed guy?'" he recalls.
Turns out there was, and Jackman say he thinks the movie is better for it, although he wouldn't get into details during promotional interviews for the recently released Australia.
However, Schrieber's more than happy to elaborate. "The research that I did on it told me Victor's mutant issue has nothing to do with his name Sabretooth," says the actor.
But that's where he decided to start. So he researched the ancient sabertooth animals and how they were supposed to have moved and what their base instincts were.
"I also knew the stuff from the comic," Schrieber continues. "I knew that the character was just a completely savage street fighter and that that was his MO. But what I hadn't seen in some of the earlier stuff that I was curious to pursue is figuring out what drives the guy and what are the qualities that developed because of that."
As with Heath Ledger's Joker in
The Dark Knight, Schrieber says he hopes to elevate the characterization.
"It's like rather than just say that Sabertooth's a violent brute, I wanted to find out what makes the brute tick," he says. "Hopefully people will like it."
Schrieber fans better. He's co-headlining with James Bond's Daniel Craig in the film
Defiance out in mid-January. Then his co-starring part in
Wolverine might be the last movie we get to see him for a while.
On Saturday, his wife and actress Naomi Watts gave birth to Samuel, their second child. "That's going to keep me on the bench for a while," says the new father.
[
Editor's note: The above happened. On Saturday, Schreiber and Watts welcomed their second child, Samuel.]
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