Screenwriter Nick Reiner was taken into custody by the Los Angeles Police Department on Sunday, December 14. This follows the deaths of his parents, Rob and Michele, earlier that day.
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Around 3:30 pm on Sunday, emergency responders were called to Rob and Michele Reiner's Brentwood home. They were initially found dead by their 28-year-old daughter, Romy.
Nick Reiner, their 32-year-old son, has since been taken in for questioning. Currently, he is being held at a $4 million bail.
Reiner has been open about his personal struggles with drug addiction. Around the time of his 15th birthday, he'd already been checked into rehab. By the time he was 22, he shared that he had undergone over 17 rehab stays. In an effort to avoid treatment, there were times when Reiner chose to live on the street as a teenager. He often cites these years as being "very dark" times.
"I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey," he shared of his time on the streets. "It was not fun." However, he ultimately expressed having a positive outlook on the experience years later. "That made me who I am now, having to deal with that stuff. I met crazy great people there, so out of my element."
How 'Being Charlie' Was Inspired by Nick's Real Life Experiences
In 2015, Nick co-wrote and worked on the film Being Charlie with his father, Rob, who's known for directing films like When Harry Met Sally. Being Charlie follows the life experience of Charlie, an 18-year-old who struggles with drug addiction. He also grapples with being the son of a famous actor-turned-famous politician. Sound familiar?
The film is meant to be semi-autobiographical, drawing on Nick's own life experiences. In an interview, he shared that making the film was positive in several ways. It gave him an opportunity to bond with his father, which he hadn't done a lot previously. "We didn't bond a lot as a kid. He really liked baseball, I liked basketball, and he could watch that with my brother — baseball — but I just, when I saw him do that, it was something that I'm interested in[working on the film], I was like, 'Wow, he really knows a lot' and it made me feel closer to him."
Rob Reiner was known for his work on films like The Princess Bride (1987), When Harry Met Sally (1989), and A Few Good Men (1992), among others.
Photo by: Rommel Demano/Getty Images
