Liev Schreiber/Naomi Watts Insight

At a New York Times Arts & Leisure Weekend event the other day, Liev Schreiber talked about working with his lady Naomi Watts in the 2006 period drama The Painted Veil.

First of all, Liev said, they were already dating when the movie went into production and she got him the part, nepotistically enough.

But it wasn’t all joyful. He said it was awkward to film the lovemaking scenes because they were experiencing the early throes of real intimacy off camera, so doing it for the crew was rather strained and he just wanted to get it over with.

When the interviewer showed a smoochy clip and remarked, “That was a great movie star moment,” Liev said, “For her!”

He explained that for that scene, he had to uncomfortably crouch, with cameras and lights behind him, someone constantly adjusting his head position, and a makeup lady looming under him. Naomi, meanwhile, was beautifully lit with a shaft of soft rays around her eyes.

“I was chopped liver on that set,” Liev said, half-smiling.

In other painful news, Liev admitted that he had a sour Christmas because, “The kids went away and Naomi went away and I had one of those shotgun in the bathtub holidays.”

But he’s still here, thank God; he’s got to do A View From The Bridge on Broadway every night.