United Kingdom, July 15 -- Liev Schreiber was inspired to become an actor by his passion for clowns and the circus as a child.

The 57-year-old star has revealed he was always intrigued by clowns from his trips to the circus with his grandfather Alex Milgram - his mother Heather Milgram's father - and the first seeds of his career were shown when he wanted to entertain his family.

In an interview with Italian publication IO Donna, he said: "As a child, I was fascinated by clowns and enjoyed entertaining my family . My mother was a bit of a hippie; she placed more importance on art than money: she was a taxi driver, and as soon as she had some, she'd spend it on taking us to the movies or the theatre."

Liev insists his grandfather Alex -...