Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber have a tiff

By Stone Martindale Oct 30, 2006, 3:38 GMT

The celebrity couple of Nicole Kidman BFF, actress Naomi Watts and actor Liev Schreiber allegedly had a public spat last week at a Manhattan bar, with Watts marching out of the nightspot with Schreiber trailing her, pleadingly.

Ben Widdicombe reported that Liev and Naomi were at the Whiskey Bar after-party for "The 24 Hour Plays," when, according to an unnamed witness, Watts "slammed her drink down; [Liev] followed suit, but took a bracing sip before following. Five minutes passed, and Liev returned alone."  TMZ.com speculates that "things couldn't have been too serious – Schreiber rejoined his party" with a "what me worry" expression and kept on drinking.

Watts was reported by TMZ to be praising her man, saying, "I am so proud of him tonight, as always."

Liev Schreiber has landed his first TV series.

The Tony Award-winning actor is joining the cast of monster hit C.S.I. later this season as a seasoned detective who comes on board filling the shoes of investigator William Petersen, who's taking some time off in 2007.

Schreiber's stage and screen roles have ranged from Macbeth to Orson Welles to the wrongfully convicted Cotton Weary in slasher horror film Scream.

Schreiber's background has a bit of bohemian gypsy-ness to it. IMDB states his mum Heather, was a painter.   When Liev was one year old, his family moved from San Francisco to Canada.  After his parents divorced when he was still a youngster, his mother took him to New York, where she drove a cab. IMDB states they "lived as squatters in an abandoned building. His mother now lives in an ashram in Virginia. His mother taught him to read. She also forbade him from seeing color movies."

"I'm a huge Liev Schreiber fan," C.S.I. executive producer Carol Mendelsohn said. "On stage or in film, I think he's one of the finest actors of his generation."