Michel Gill On The Surprising Way He Met Liev Schreiber Years Before Ray Donovan - Exclusive

Actor Michel Gill is currently appearing in HBO's "The Gilded Age," a beautiful period drama from the creator of "Downton Abbey." And, beginning March 3, viewers will be able to catch him in Hulu's "The Dropout," which follows the Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos scandal. Gill has already been a regular on our screens in recent years, thanks to standout roles in "House of Cards," "Mr. Robot," and "Ray Donovan."

In Season 5 of "Ray Donovan," Gill played Doug Landry, a secretly sleazy movie executive, a type of role that he knows well. "I've been always, from the beginning of my career, I've been cast as some nasty pieces of work that don't appear nasty off the bat," he told Nicki Swift. "You can't just appear right off the bat as the quintessential villain. You have to find this humanity and the need of what this character has and what it's all about." The role wasn't the only thing somewhat familiar to Gill; the actor was also pleased to get the chance to work with actor Liev Schreiber on the popular Showtime series, as "Ray Donovan" wasn't the first time that Gill had crossed paths with Schreiber.

In an exclusive interview with Nicki Swift, Michel Gill revealed the surprising way he met Liev Schreiber years before they starred in "Ray Donovan" together.

Michael Gill and Liev Schreiber go way back

Michel Gill was elated that he got to work with Liev Schreiber on "Ray Donovan," particularly as the pair had actually met decades earlier. "Liev [Schreiber] and I met, 1992," Gill told Nicki Swift. "1992. He was a student at Yale. He was in his last year, and I was in a production at the Yale Rep, 'Edward II.' And he was in the production as a student. So we met then." As a result, "Ray Donovan" was a reunion of sorts for Gill. "And so when I came to set, it was nice," Gill explained. "It'd been a long time, but it was a nice way to reconnect. Again, these are the little things that help in a process."

And it would seem that reconnecting with old friends is one of the highlights of working as an actor for Gill. As he told Nicki Swift, "You end up doing this. You spend enough time in this business, you persist, you stick with it. It's a small world. It's a very small world, and you just run into each other, into one another, all the time." He continued, "And it's just wonderful. And you're constantly making new friends in these environments that are so vulnerable, really, for us as actors."

Watch Michel Gill in "The Gilded Age" on HBO and HBO Max every Monday. "The Dropout" is set to hit Hulu on March 3, 2022.