Nick Reiner: What do we know about Rob Reiner’s son who was arrested? | Rob Reiner

At the center of the horrific news of the death of Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle Singer Reiner over the weekend is their 32-year-old son, Nick.

The screenwriter was arrested and charged with first-degree murder after his 28-year-old sister Romy found their parents dead at home with injuries consistent with a knife attack.

Nick had dealt with drug addiction and homelessness, and entered rehab for the first time when he was fifteen years old. He referred to his struggle during the “dark years” in a 2016 interview.

“When I was there, I could have died,” he said. “It’s all luck. You roll the dice and hope it works.”

His experiences inspired the film Being Charlie, which premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. The drama, co-written by Nick and directed by his father, follows the teenage son of a Hollywood star as he deals with addiction. It received largely negative reviews but the couple spoke of the important role it played in their lives.

“What we tried to do was take the essence of our experience and what we’ve all been through and make a theatrical drama about it, and a comedy as well,” Rob said at the time. “It’s a piece of fiction but drawn from our lives.” He described it as “intense” and “challenging at times” but also “the most satisfying creative experience I’ve ever had”.

Nick said the film “wasn’t my life” but that the character’s journey reflected it in many ways. “I was homeless in Maine,” he said. “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.”

It details the difficult relationship between son and father and how the influence of those working in the rehabilitation system often creates further problems. “If your child is going through a difficult time, your main job as a parent is to keep your child safe,” Rob said. “I’ll do anything.”

He also said that although his father was loosely dependent on him, he hoped he would not be “equally an idiot.” The father in the film is played by Cary Elwes, who previously worked with Rob on The Princess Bride.

“I wasn’t that shy about listing some of the bad stuff,” Nick said of balancing the positive and negative aspects of his life.

Rob added: “It forced me to see what Nick went through more clearly and with a deeper understanding, and I think it forced him to see the things I went through along the way. It definitely brought us closer together.”

In the same interview, Nick said that they did not relate much when he was a child but that he understood him more during the process of making the film.

At the time, when asked if he had found his calling yet, Nick said “nothing has come out yet but we’ll see” before saying he had already started writing his next project.

Nick has never written another completed film, and when his father was interviewed by The Guardian last year, he spoke about his children and the difficulties they face in finding their careers.

“My son is 32 years old and my daughter is 26 years old,” he said. “They both want jobs, and they’re both talented. Should I lean into it? Should I back away from it? They’re at a loss. I said, once they find their own way, it won’t matter.”

Nick supported his father at the premiere of Spinal Tap II: The End Continues earlier this year.