Ray Donovan actor Liev Schreiber talks about transgender daughter: ‘Kai is such a fighter’

Hollywood actor Liev Schreiber is publicly supporting his daughter Kai and reflecting on his journey as the parent of a transgender child. Speaking to Variety on Thursday, Liev shared that Kai, now 17, never formally came out to him or her mother, actor Naomi Watts.

"Kai was always who Kai is. But I suppose the most profound moment was her asking us to change her pronouns. 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," said the Ray Donovan star.

Liev praised his daughter's strength, calling her "such a fighter," but also emphasised the importance of being seen. "It's important that she goes, 'Hey, I am trans,' and, 'Look at me,'" he said.

Ahead of his appearance at an event supporting homeless LGBTQ youth in New York recently, Liev also spoke about the significance of standing with "a community of people who don’t have great resources, who don’t have access to help, who aren’t being protected and looked after by their families."

When it comes to raising a transgender child, Liev was cautious about giving generalised advice. He noted that it "feels like an overstep" to do so, and downplayed the idea that the experience is drastically different from parenting any other teenager.

"Teenagers are a 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," he said.

Kai is the younger of Liev and Naomi’s two children. Their son Sasha was born in 2007, followed by Kai in 2008. The actors met at the Met Gala in 2005 and separated in 2016 after what they described as a period of relationship struggles.

Earlier this year in March, Kai marked a major milestone in her modeling career by walking the runway for Valentino at Paris Fashion Week 2025. Celebrating the moment, she posted a series of images on Instagram as well.