The pair spoke about working together on a semi-autobiographical film about Nick’s drug use, while, in a solo interview, Nick recalled the time he “wrecked” his parents’ guest house while “spun out on uppers.”
After the shocking killings of Hollywood legend Rob Reiner and his wife Michele — followed by their son Nick’s arrest for murder — social media users are looking back at Rob and Nick’s film together, Being Charlie.
The When Harry Met Sally director and his wife were found dead at their home on December 14. Nick was reportedly arrested on suspicion of murder and, as of Monday morning, is being held on $4 million bail. Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office has not yet determined criminal charges. Reiner was 78, his wife was 68.
Back in 2015, Rob and Nick on a semi-autobiographical film together documenting their experience as a family dealing with addiction. Nick co-wrote the script with a friend from rehab, both giving insight into their real-life struggles as an addict; Rob directed the film.
Cary Elwes played the Rob stand-in while Nick Robinson played the character inspired by Nick. Premiering at TIFF in September 2015, Being Charlie centers on Charlie Mills, the 18-year-old addict son of David, a movie star running for Congress. Charlie resents the harsh way his father and mother are treating his addiction, which involves mandatory stints in rehab; that tracks closely with how Rob, Michele and Nick Reiner interacted, the family said.
The film — which can be watched on YouTube — ends with an apology from the father for how he may have treated his son’s addiction at times, while emphasizing that he does love him. Charlie replies by saying he doesn’t “hate” his dad before hugging him, telling him “take good care” of himself and then leaving.
The apology was something Rob did in real life too.
“When Nick would tell us that it wasn’t working for him, we wouldn’t listen. We were desperate and because the people had diplomas on their wall, we listened to them when we should have been listening to our son,” the Princess Bride director told the L.A. Times at a dinner with his family, including Nick, who said he was sober at the time.
Michele then added: “We were so influenced by these people. They would tell us he’s a liar, that he was trying to manipulate us. And we believed them.”
The father and son duo did numerous interviews together, giving a candid glimpse into their real life relationship and their journey putting the film together.
During Paul Mecurio’s podcast 2 Chairs and a Microphone, Rob and Nick were asked about how they worked together as a father and son team.
“We hashed everything out something became fights and other things… we hashed it out,” Rob told Paul in 2016.
Nick then jumped in and shared some advice his dad told him while filming: “‘There’s one person on the set that has to make the final decision whether it’s right or wrong it has to be made and that’s the director,’ and so after I heard that I was like, ‘Okay I’ll do what he wants me to do I’ll try my best on it but ultimately what gets into the movie.'”
Hollywood Reacts to Tragic Deaths of Rob Reiner, Wife Michele After Apparent Murder
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Rob shared that his decades of experience in film made him feel like he had the upper hand when making decisions — however, he soon discovered he would “defer” to Nick “all the time.”
“There were times where Nick would fight for certain types of things, my first instinct is, ‘I have a lot more experience.’ But then as we went along I realized that, ‘Yeah, I may have a lot more experience making movies but I don’t have a lot more experience on this particular subject and in particularly what the young guy is going through,” Rob said, before calling Nick the “heart and soul” of the film.
Nick then went on to share what he discovered about his dad during their journey.
“He has sometimes a hard time expressing himself through conversation … We’re on a show right now. [But] he’s quieter but he’s still… he listens, he’s a great dad,” he shared. “I just mean that like he’s best explaining himself when he’s in his element making a movie, showing how much he cares through that way.”
In a Q&A for the film following a screening, Rob called the film a “cathartic” and “therapeutic” experience, which wasn’t something they initially set out to do.
“But it turned out to be that,” Rob recalled in 2016. Later in the interview, Rob said the disagreements were “at times… really rough.” While Nick said, “Sometimes it would get overwhelming for me.” He added, “Sometimes it didn’t feel like a movie to me it felt like it was turning into more of something.”
In another interview Nick did in 2018 on the Dopey podcast, per Page Six, he gave some more insight into his behavior while “sequestered” in his parents’ guest house while high.
“I went 10 rounds in my guest house,” he shared. “It’s not much of a story. I got totally spun out on uppers — I think it was coke and something else — and I was up for days on end. I started punching out some things in my guest house. Everything in the guest house got wrecked … I literally punched the TV.”
