Liev Schreiber opened up about his trans daughter Kai and the ‘profound moment’ when his second eldest child came out to the star.
The Ray Donovan actor, 57 – who recently hit back at claims that Kai is a nepo baby – discusses the topic for the first time during an interview with Variety on Thursday.
The Hollywood A-lister shares the 16-year-old as well as son Sasha, 17, with ex Naomi Watts. The pair dated from 2005 until their split in 2016.
‘Kai was always who Kai is. But I suppose the most profound moment was her asking us to change her pronouns,’ he told the outlet.
‘To be honest with you, it didn’t feel like that big of a deal to me only because Kai had been so feminine for so long.’
Schreiber also applauded the teen’s strength and bravery while expressing, ‘Kai is such a fighter. It’s important that she goes, “Hey, I am trans,” and, “Look at me,” and, “F*** you. F*** off.”‘
Liev Schreiber, 57, opened up about his trans daughter Kai, 16, and the ‘profound moment’ when his second eldest child came out to the star; seen in April in NYC
In regards to advice he has for parents who also have kids who have come out as trans, Liev simply stated, ‘I don’t know the answer for your kid.’
He further explained that he felt it was ‘an overstep’ for him to do so due to every circumstance being unique and different.
The actor, however, did briefly talk about raising teenagers in general and said, ‘I guess if I would say anything to someone who’s having trouble with their trans teen or their adolescent trans kid it’s “Teenagers are a f***ing headache. They’re hard.”
‘It doesn’t matter whether they’re trans or not because you’ll come out of this. But a trans teen is going to be a teen.’
The Perfect Couple star continued, ‘They’re such a pain in the a** so much of the time, and Kai is as feisty and outspoken as they come.’
Later this week on Friday, Kai is set to accompany Schreiber and his wife Taylor Nielsen to the Ali Forney Center’s A Place At The Table Gala in NYC.
The center helps, ‘protect homeless Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning youth from the harms of homelessness and empower them with the tools needed to be independent,’ per the official website.
Nearly two months earlier, Liev clapped back at claims Kai was a nepo baby after she made her runway debut during Paris Fashion Week in March.
‘Kai was always who Kai is. But I suppose the most profound moment was her asking us to change her pronouns,’ he told the outlet
The actor, however, did briefly talk about raising teenagers in general and said, ‘I guess if I would say anything to someone who’s having trouble with their trans teen or their adolescent trans kid it’s “Teenagers are a f***ing headache. They’re hard’; seen in 2024 in NYC
At the time, the teenager strutted on the catwalk for the luxurious brand Valentino.
And most recently, Kai was spotted on the streets of New York City while on set of a photo shoot last month in April.
While talking to TMZ in March, the actor expressed: ‘I don’t have many thoughts for the haters. What if you were a professional actor and your child decided they wanted to do something in this world?
‘Do they have a choice? It doesn’t matter. That’s her life and she does what she wants with her life.’
The father-of-three added, ‘I’m super proud of her and I thought she did an amazing job with the show.’
Kai has given a few snippets of her budding modeling career on Instagram – and currently boasts around 15K followers.
Also in March, the 16-year-old joined mom Naomi Watts on the red carpet to attend a screening of The Friend in NYC.
The King Kong actress held a proud smile on her face while donning a sleeveless white dress that contained black embellishments on the flowy skirt as she stood next to Kai.
Nearly two months earlier, Liev clapped back at claims Kai was a nepo baby after she made her runway debut during Paris Fashion Week in March; seen above in March during Paris Fashion Week
Also in March, the 16-year-old joined mom Naomi Watts on the red carpet to attend a screening of The Friend in NYC (seen above)
The teen dressed for the occasion wearing a black ruffled skirt as well as a fitted pink top and stylish blazer.
Liev and Naomi’s other nepo baby Sasha is also no stranger to red carpets and was seen alongside his father at Cirque Du Soleil’s Luzia premiere in NYC a few months earlier.
Schreiber opened up to People during the festivities about being joined by his son on the red carpet and admitted that it was ‘strange’ for him.
‘I felt a little self-conscious walking into the circus with him because, like, it’s the kind of thing you do with your kid,’ the actor explained to the outlet.
The star then shared, ‘He doesn’t feel like my kid anymore. He feels like a man now, so, it’s a whole different thing for us.’
Sasha was also seen with his father on the red carpet at the 2025 Critics Choice Awards in Santa Monica in February.
Liev and Sasha dressed for the occasion in black suits and the actor’s wife Taylor was also seen joining the pair at the awards ceremony. The actor tied the knot with Nielson in 2023 and they are also parents to Hazel, one.
Following their split, Naomi and Schreiber have maintained a positive co-parenting relationship.
The star then shared, ‘He doesn’t feel like my kid anymore. He feels like a man now, so, it’s a whole different thing for us’; seen in March in NYC
Following their split, Naomi and Schreiber have maintained a positive co-parenting relationship
Back in 2019, Naomi talked to Net-a-Porter about co-parenting with the actor and said, ‘We’re doing things very differently. I’m pretty proud of us, corny as that may sound.
‘We’ve made it our absolute priority to be good and kind to each other and we’re absolutely committed to that.’
Naomi also moved on and said ‘I do’ to The Morning Show actor Billy Crudup in 2023.
Sasha has started to follow in his parents footsteps by also dabbling in the entertainment industry over the years.
Sasha has started to follow in his parents footsteps by also dabbling in the entertainment industry over the year; seen with mom Naomi in 2024 in NYC
Back in 2016, he notably voiced the character of a Young Wolf in The Jungle Book with his sibling Kai.
He also made his modeling debut last year in October and shared snaps from a photo shoot he took part in for the social shopping app Rodeo.
Around that time, Sasha was also seen towering over his mother as he joined Watts at the New York Film Festival.
In 2022, the teen accompanied his father Liev at the premiere of National Geographic Documentary Films’ We Feed People in NYC.
