Ray Donovan Star Liev Schreiber Reacts To Series Cancellation At Showtime

When news broke this week that Showtime had officially cancelled its long-running original Ray Donovan, just about everyone's reactions were on the negative side, since the crime drama had only recently wrapped up Season 7 with a finale that complicated many characters' situations. Alas, while the fandom will be stuck with a list of unanswered questions, the person who had arguably the most chill reaction to the news was star Liev Schreiber.

All things considered, Liev Schreiber sounded like he knew the cancellation was coming back in January when the finale aired, so perhaps he'd already mentally prepped himself for the day when the bad news would finally come. Check out his post below, presumably with a glass of Johnny Walker scotch in hand.

A toast that popped up a time or ten on Ray Donovan itself, "Slainte" is an Irish word for "cheers." Its utterance often prefaces quite a bit of mirthful drinking, though the mirth-filled moments will likely be few and far between in the days just after the cancellation news got publicity. I mean, it's not like Ray Donovan was a ball of laughter and goofiness. (Especially since he didn't quite say his own name right.)

Since 2013, Liev Schreiber portrayed the esteemed fixer Ray Donovan, whose ability to "clean" things never fully worked out when he focused on his own life's problems. Along the way, the actor earned himself quite a few awards nominations for his work, though the only major trophies won by the show were Jon Voight's Supporting Actor Golden Globe and Hank Azaria's Guest Actor Emmy.

Liev's brother Pablo Schreiber, former American Gods star and future Halo star, responded to the cancellation reaction post with his own uplifting words.

And to be sure, Liev Schreiber certainly isn't the only member of the Donovan family who's bummed out about having to say goodbye to the show. Below is co-star Eddie Marsan's take.

Part of the reason why Ray Donovan's cancellation news was so shocking is that many fans had developed a sense of optimism about the show's future. For one, the showrunner had previously expressed interest in crafting an actual ending for everyone's stories. As well, Shameless' cancellation was revealed in the form of a final season order, so it was thought that the same would happen with Ray Donovan.

Not to mention at the Television Critics Association winter press tour in January, Showtime exec Greg Levine told Deadline that the end was indeed near, but offered up hope for a Season 8 order to happen. In his words:

For what it's worth, Liev Schreiber tried to keep Ray Donovan alive around the finale's airing. After posting a message that was so thankful it sounded doomsaying, he took to social media to advise fans to express their Season 8 desires to Showtime and CBS to make sure everyone in power knew that there would be eyeballs ready and waiting for new episodes. Unfortunately, it would appear not enough people heeded those words seen below.

While there have been no signs of any further advancements with Ray Donovan on Showtime, it wouldn't be completely out of the question for the network to produce some kind of a "final" episode that gives audiences some real closure with characters like Smitty, Bridget and Daryl. It would probably take a huge wave of support from fans to inspire something like that, but it's not an outright impossibility.

Ray Donovan is currently no more at Showtime, though episodes can still be streamed in full on Showtime Anytime's website and app.