Liev Schreiber Reveals Why He Was Reluctant to First Take on Tony-Nominated Role in Broadway’s “Doubt” (Exclusive)

The 'Ray Donovan' actor opens up to PEOPLE about the Broadway revival and praises fellow actress and Tony nominee Amy Ryan for her 'amazing' performance

Liev Schreiber received a Tony Award nomination for his role in the acclaimed revival of John Patrick Shanley’s play Doubt: A Parable. But it's a part the actor nearly passed on.

Speaking with PEOPLE at the 2024 Meet the Nominees junket earlier this month, Schreiber reveals he was hesitant to play Catholic teacher Father Flynn in the production, noting that the play's topic — about a Bronx middle school principal nun who suspects the priest might have had an inappropriate relationship with a student — gave him pause after his roles in Ray Donovan and Spotlight.

"I felt that I had done my share with the Catholic Church," Schreiber, 56 laughs to PEOPLE of the longtime Showtime series and 2015 Oscar-winning Best Picture, which both addressed sexual abuse in within the institution. "That was enough."

Of course, Schreiber changed his tune, going on to star in the show opposite Amy Ryan, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, and Zoe Kazan. Ryan and Bernstine also received Tony nominations.

Related: Amy Ryan Says She Felt 'Sheer Terror' Replacing Tyne Daly in Broadway's Doubt Revival Last Minute

So why did Schreiber say yes?

Turns out, it was a visit to St. Vincent's Convent in the Bronx that offered him a new perspective. “I met some of those nuns and priests and thought about the faithful who got swept up in that tsunami of litigation and the people who were really just sort of looking for a way to be of service to do good in this life, that moved me," he says.

Scriber recalls that he “had just come from Mass in our small town in Montauk with my in-laws” when he got the call from director Scott Ellis and found out he landed the role. As he prepared, Schreiber visited different churches and was impressed by the “space that Sunday Mass creates” for the community.

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The actor also praises his Doubt co-star Ryan for her amazing performance in the show after she joined the cast when Tyne Daly had to drop out last minute due to a health issue. "Amy just did an extraordinary job getting up to speed really quickly," he says.

"It was a terrifying thing to do," Ryan, 55, tells PEOPLE. "It's certainly a recurring nightmare anxiety dream I've had in the past, of thinking you're on first day of rehearsals and a curtain goes up and there's a paying audience, and all your other co-stars are off book and you're not. So I guess I could check that nightmare off my list! Or dream come true, whichever you look at it."

Related: 2024 Tony Awards: Sarah Paulson, Jeremy Strong, Rachel McAdams and More Nab Nominations — See the Full List

Doubt originally premiered on Broadway in 2005 and won four Tony Awards including best play, as well as the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In 2008, the play was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film that starred Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.

And despite Schreiber's initial reluctance, he shares that he believes that Doubt is “such a powerful play today given the amount of polarization that there is in our society and politics,” and that the Broadway stage, especially, has a special place in his heart as a New Yorker.

“This is what you do if you grow up in New York,” he says. “This is where you act. And if you're lucky, you can make a living doing it.”

The 2024 Tony Awards will take place on Sunday, June 16 at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater in New York City. Viewers can watch the show on CBS and Paramount+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Select awards will also be handed out on a preshow that will stream on Pluto TV.

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