Inside Naomi Watts And Liev Schreiber's Relationship

Naomi Watts may be coupled up with Billy Crudup as of 2017, but "The Impossible" actress had a whole dating life before she settled down with "The Morning Show" star (via Ranker). She was of course an item with the late Heath Ledger from 2000 to 2004, but her longest relationship was with Liev Schreiber.

The "Ray Donovan" actor first crossed paths with Watts in an oh-so-Hollywood way. They met at the 2005 Met Gala according to People. Actually, their "meet cute"/love story could make for a perfect romantic comedy. After Schreiber, who had briefly chatted with Watts at a hotel in Toronto a few years back, noticed his future love at the event, she would end up asking if he wanted to go out dancing post-Met Gala (via Esquire).

When he arrived, the likes of A-listers Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro were also on hand, vying for the star's attention. "I'm kind of standing around like a bump on a log, waiting for my turn," he told Esquire in 2016, going on to confide he felt "embarrassed" and "self-conscious." Since Schreiber feared he wasn't making a good impression, he fled.

But Watts wasn't willing to see the encounter end there.

As Liev Schreiber admitted in his 2016 Esquire interview, he has Naomi Watts to thank for saving their potentially-disastrous first meeting. After he left the club in Manhattan due to feeling out of his element, he said about the "King Kong" star's next move, "She chased me outside and said, 'Don't you want my digits?'"

The next day, the Hollywood stars met up for cupcakes, which the "Don't Look Up" star described as "silly" but "very romantic." A great kiss led to a romance that would last for the next 11 years.

First, the couple had to work out some logistics. Although Watts had once owned an apartment in New York, she called Los Angeles home when she met Schreiber (via Architectural Digest). "But then I met Mr. New York and everything changed," she told AD in 2017 adding that after she fell in love with the actor, she moved to the East Coast and lived in his place for a time.

The lovebirds' lives would change again when in July of 2007, they became parents and craving more space, bought and designed a new home in the city together.

Alexander Pete Schreiber was born in July of 2007, two years after Naomi Watts chased Liev Schreiber out of a New York City club and asked if he wanted her phone number (via People).

A year later, the new parents were expecting again (via Daily Mail). As the then-39-year-old actress had previously told The Daily Telegraph, "I always thought that I would have had kids by 30. I'd like five more." But she went on to admit "five is excessive, particularly for someone my age. I'd love three. That might be pushing it, so two. We'll see."

In December of 2008, Samuel Kai Schreiber joined his big brother, nicknamed Sasha. The family of four looked quite conventional on the outside — except Watts and Schreiber decided to take a hard stance on marriage; as in, not doing it.

As Naomi Watts told Mom.com in 2012 about marrying the father of her two children, "Since I was a kid, having grown up in a divorced family, I was strongly against it at one point and now I feel as good as married. We just don't have that certificate."

But by 2016, the 11-year love affair was over, with the famous duo announcing in a statement that they felt the best way forward for their family was with the mom of two and Liev Schreiber no longer being a couple (via People).

"It is with great love, respect, and friendship in our hearts that we look forward to raising our children together and exploring this new phase of our relationship," the statement concluded.

As for why the Hollywood power parents couldn't make it work, sources have claimed the former TV star was more of a homebody while the "21 Grams" actress wanted to "travel the world, making movies and attending film festivals and red carpets" (via Daily Mail). It was also rumored that Schreiber was unfaithful to Watts with the nanny (via Who.com).

While we don't know exactly why the couple went their separate ways, we are sure of one thing: They made amicable co-parenting a major priority post-split.

While Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber were no longer be together, that didn't mean they weren't still, well together. As the "Ray Donovan" actor explained to People the year the couple called it quits on their romance, "We're parents together so we'll be together for the rest of our lives no matter what and we're very close." He added, "Hopefully, that never changes and I don't think it will."

A year later, it seemed that in fact things were still on good terms between the two former flames, with Watts telling Parade the co-parents were "in a good place" and remained great friends who were raising their "beautiful" children.

And in 2019, Watts reaffirmed that seemingly all was well with her relationship with her famous ex, telling Net-a-Porter, "I'm pretty proud of us, corny as that may sound," she says. "We've made it our absolute priority to be good and kind to each other and we're absolutely committed to that."

But what would happen when the stars met and fell in love with new partners? Would their relationship stay strong, or finally splinter?

Naomi Watts began dating Billy Crudup a year after she and Liev Schreiber announced their split (via Page Six). The Hollywood couple kept their relationship low-key until 2022 when they first stepped out on a red carpet together. They also made their love Instagram official in July of 2022 with a photo of their Parisian trip for the "Almost Famous" star's birthday.

For his part, Schreiber also entered into another long-term relationship. The actor is with Taylor Neisen, a former Miss South Dakota who is two decades younger than her famous partner (via The Teal Mango).

Still, despite finding love with other people, by all accounts the stars and their current flames are one big happy family along with the exes' kids, Sasha and Kai. In fact, the co-parents, Crudup and Neisen all celebrated Kai's graduation in July of 2022, documenting the occasion on Instagram.