Rob Reiner previously spoke about helping his son overcome addiction
Director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, who were found dead Sunday in their Los Angeles home, have spoken candidly in the past about their relationship with their son Nick, who has been arrested on suspicion of murder.
The parents, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 2015, said they wished they could go back and do things differently to help Nick, now 32, as he struggled with addiction and rehab programs.
“The show works for some people, but it can’t work for everyone,” the late director said while talking about “Being Charlie,” the film he made with his son about a teenager struggling with drugs and periods of homelessness.
The family talked about their problems getting help for Nick around age 15, and how they wish they had handled certain elements when trying to find him care.
Laura Cavanaugh via Getty Images
“When Nick told us it wasn’t working for him, we didn’t listen,” Rob Reiner said. “We were desperate and, since people had diplomas on the walls, we listened to them when we should have listened to our son.”
Michele said she and her husband “were very influenced by these people.”
“They told us that he is a liar, that he was trying to manipulate us. And we believed them,” he said.
Elsewhere in the interview, the couple’s daughter, Romy, talked about her brother and father making the film together.
“This is my best friend, and I was there through all of that. It’s weird, but it’s good to see [it] on the screen,” he said.
Nick told People magazine in 2016 that he sometimes chose homelessness over going to rehab.
Denise Truscello via Getty Images
“If I wanted to do it my way and not go to the programs they suggested, then I had to be a bum,” he said. “I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey. I was homeless in Texas. I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street. It wasn’t fun.”
Nick Reiner was taken into police custody on Sunday after Rob, 78, and Michele, 68, were found dead from apparent stab wounds. Authorities have not released information about a suspected motive.
A family spokesperson confirmed “the tragic death” on Sunday.
“We are heartbroken by this sudden loss and ask for privacy during this incredibly difficult time,” the spokesperson said in a statement to CNN.
The couple is survived by their three children: Jake Reiner, Nick Reiner and Romy Reiner. Rob Reiner also has a 61-year-old daughter, Tracy, adopted from his first marriage to fellow director Penny Marshall.
Tracy said in a statement shared with NBC News that she “comes from the greatest family that has ever existed.”
“I don’t know what to say. I’m in shock,” he added.