Jerry O’Connell cried over Rob and Michele Reiner’s murders in an emotional CBS News special that aired over the weekend.
O’Connell was a preteen when the “Stand By Me” director cast him in the 1986 coming-of-age drama.
“Everything I have in my life is because I was in ‘Stand By Me.’ Everything,” the actor, 51, explained on “Rob Reiner: Scenes From a Life,” which aired Sunday.
O’Connell got emotional recalling Rob going above and beyond for him after the film hit theaters.
“Rob Reiner heard I was in LA, and he took me out to lunch, man,” he said through tears. “He didn’t have to do that, you know what I’m saying? It was months after the movie came out. He was a busy man. And he took a 12-year-old me out to lunch just to be like, ‘Thanks so much, what a great movie.’”
O’Connell covered his eyes with his hands as he emphasized how much that lunch meant to him. “It’s just stuff that kids need to hear, you know?” he stressed.
“The Princess Bride” star Mandy Patinkin also broke down over Rob and Michele’s murders. When he found out that the 1987 film’s director and his wife had been stabbed to death, the only word that came to mind was “inconceivable,” a word famously uttered throughout the fantasy rom-com.
“I heard this news at about 11-something [last] Sunday night. I was in bed. I was in shock. I didn’t sleep at all. I just kept wailing and crying. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to process it. I still don’t know how to process it, and I’m not looking for how to process it,” Patinkin, 73, said.
He recalled Rob inviting him and the rest of the cast to LA to see the first cut of the movie.
“We’re sitting there in this screening room, and the film was over, and I said, ‘I never dreamed I would get to be in something like this.’ I didn’t even have time to dream, and he made that dream for me,” the actor shared as his voice cracked.
He credited Rob with trying to make him “the best human being” possible.
“One time, he said to me, ‘I just wish you could get out of your own way.’ And I haven’t been able to achieve that to this day, but I won’t quit trying,” Patinkin said. “He cared about my nature. He showed it to me over and over again.”
Kathy Bates, who won an Academy Award for her role in Rob’s 1990 horror film, “Misery,” also shed tears as she praised the late Hollywood legend for making her acting dreams “come true.”
She remembered his “warmth,” “excitement” and “confidence,” adding that she recently found out how he proudly kept shouting, “She was the best!” after she won the 1991 Oscar for best lead actress.
“Hearing that was so wonderful because I wanted to be the best for him,” she said.
On Dec. 17, Rob, who was 78, and Michele, who was 70, were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home.
The LA County Medical Examiner’s Office has confirmed that the couple died from “multiple sharp force injuries,” ruling that the manner was homicide.
Their troubled son, Nick Reiner — who was reportedly diagnosed with schizophrenia before the killings and has a long history of drug addiction — was subsequently arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder with a special circumstance of multiple murders.
Nick — who is currently locked away in solitary confinement at Twin Towers Correctional Facility — is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.
The 32-year-old is reportedly expected to plead not guilty by reason of insanity.
If you or someone you care about is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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