Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber filmed a boxing biopic together, Chuck (originally titled The Bleeder), around December 2015. I remember because we had photos of them on the NJ Boardwalk set of the film together. Around January of 2016, Star reported that Naomi and Liev had broken up, however they continued to talk about each other in interviews as if they were still together, they were papped out together with their two sons Sasha, now 9, and Sammy 7, they posted photos together on social media and they even did events together during awards season. It looked like things were fine and like Star’s reports were incorrect. Then, in September of last year, they announced their split. They were together 11 years but had never married. Only according to Chuck Wapner, the boxer whose life their movie was based on, they had already split when they were filming his movie together back in December, 2015. He said they were very professional at the time and you couldn’t really tell.
But Chuck Wepner, the real-life heavyweight boxer on which the film is based, tells PEOPLE the exes were able to put their personal lives aside while on set.
“They had split up and separated before the movie even started but they came on the movie and they acted just like they were married,” he says. “They were friendly.”
Wepner says he is grateful that Watts and Schrieber waited until after filming wrapped to announce their split.
“They didn’t want to do anything to screw the movie up, which I thought was absolutely wonderful,” he says.
The former couple announced the end of their relationship in a joint statement to PEOPLE in late September. They share two children.
So I guess Star was right and they had split by January, which is sad but kudos to them for keeping it amicable and under wraps. That’s no small feat, although I will admit that I’m one of the rare people with a lot of interest in them. I was going to say that maybe Wapner meant that they split before they had to do promotion, but he was very clear that they broke up before they even came on set. They’re good actors definitely. I also wonder if they worked hard to try and reconcile for months before they finally realized it wasn’t going to work. That would explain a lot.
Their movie, Chuck, is out tomorrow and has a decent 72% on Rotten Tomatoes. I would see it. Naomi and Liev looked friendly on the red carpet for the premiere over the weekend.
photos credit: FameFlynet and Getty
Say you’re going through a breakup and dividing up your lives together, including how you’ll be raising your children. It’s hard, it’s traumatic, and even in the most amicable circumstances, it’s sad. Do you really want to put out a press release and deal with people asking questions and prying while you’re in the middle of it? Or do you want to have some time and some space? Not to mention the potential for this to overshadow your work. It’s not like the people actually in your life don’t know, we’re just talking about the general public here.
I bet Jennifer Garner wishes she had thought of this before issuing a press release about the end of her marriage. That invited two years of constant speculation and attention. What Naomi and Liev did was much smarter. Of course, some of these people enjoy the attention.
Exactly. Thats how I would do it if possible.
I’ve long been of the opinion that’s what Vanessa Paradis and Johnny Depp did. Depp was acting single for a loooooong time before they announced their split.
Both of them had always very much put their kids — and protecting their kids from media attention — first, so I think they put off announcing the relationship’s breakdown for a year to give their children time to adjust to the new normal.
Liev is now in a relationship with Naomis best friend she went to college with. A small blonde woman who looks just like Naomi. So nobody noticed what an a*hole Liev Schreiber is.
Wow. Naomi is a saint.
If this is true then I admire Naomi’s ability to keep it classy. Liev is sexy but I always thought she was kind of too good for him.
I thought he was dating Minnie Driver’s sister…
So classy of Naomi not to punish him for it though, she could have easily thrown him under the bus.
That was the last word on him.
ENABLE EMOJI USE CAUSE I ONLY HAVE GAPING EMOJI FACES FOR THIS TEA!!
But Honestly good for them for keeping their business their business for that long
whaaa, this is the dirt i wanted to hear!
That doesnt make Liev look so good.
Please don’t kill me me , i love both Jolie and Naomi families, but since the Movie Salt . i had this feeling that Liev and Angelina will be super sexy couple . they oozes heat together in that movie.
Hides under the desk .
I LOVE Naomi to death (like she’s one of the few actresses I would say that I’m a fan of) but I would absolutely ship Liev and Angie.
Sexy.
I’ve heard that Liev S is real weirdo and I believe he’s cheated on Naomi so I hope she’s happy.
No I love them. I wish they could have made it work. But they are both so classy!!
They are always liking each others photos on Instagram. Good for them. Seem like genuine friends!
Maybe they really are friends. That’s great! It’s a novel concept to some people, but exes actually can be friends. Probably they were both just over it; but they have the kids in common and that bond facilitates a connection. I’m still friends with my older son’s dad. I mean, not BEST friends, but we get along just fine.