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Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, reportedly spent years trying to help their son Nick, who struggled with substance abuse.
Rob and Michele remained committed to Nick Reiner for years, up until the couple were found dead inside their Brentwood home on Dec. 14. After days of unanswered questions, authorities charged Nick with double homicide.
Despite his parents’ efforts to help him, Nick continued to battle addiction over the years. The 32-year-old also struggled with reality and a sense of entitlement, according to reports.
“Nick wanted to live a life that didn’t exist. He was entitled,” a source told People magazine. “He didn’t want to do any work but expected to be loved the way the rest of his family was.”
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Rob and Michele Reiner spent years trying to help their son, Nick, battle addiction before they were found dead on Dec. 14. (Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Wynn Las Vegas )
Nick’s struggles appeared to begin at a young age. In an interview with Fox News Digital, his childhood yoga instructor recalled that he was “just very, very intense, very hyperactive.”
Alanna Zabel, author of “A Chair in the Air,” inspired by Nick, first started working with Michele. They eventually “began discussing just how much energy [Nick] had and how disruptive he was.” Zabel began working with Nick one-on-one.
“I know that Rob and Michele did absolutely everything in their power, and the resources they had to address all of them,” she said of Nick’s issues.
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Nick had reportedly been to rehab 18 times by the time he turned 22, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In a new article published Monday, journalist Steven Zeitchik recalled meeting with the Reiners in 2015 at the Toronto International Film Festival where he spoke with Nick about his struggles with drug addiction.
Nick had just turned 22 and was promoting the film he made with his father, “Being Charlie.”
Nick Reiner became a person of interest in the early stages of the investigation into Rob and Michele Reiner’s deaths, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. ( Rommel Demano/Getty Images)
“Nick was sober now, they said, after some 18 trips to rehab since his early teenage years, some of which he spent on the streets,” Zeitchik wrote about the dinner he attended with the family. “And this movie was going to provide the happy ending to all that sadness.”
Nick reportedly told the journalist that rehab hadn’t worked for him. “I just couldn’t get by in these programs. I had resistance every time they tried to reach me,” he said, according to Zeitchik.
“The program works for some people, but it can’t work for everybody,” Rob told Zeitchik at the time. “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.”
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Nick Reiner appeared in court on Dec. 17 wearing a blue suicide prevention vest. (Mona Edwards)
Nick connected his substance abuse to the pressures of living up to his famous family — Rob and Carl Reiner.
“I had no identity, and I had no passions,” he said on a podcast in 2016. “And I think the reason I had no identity was because I have a famous dad and a famous grandpa, and that fame sort of informs who you are.”
“So I wanted to edge out my own identity with a more rebellious, angry, drug-addicted sort of persona.”
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Rob Reiner’s son Nick was charged with two counts of first-degree murder on Dec. 16. (Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Teen Vogue)
Rob was among Hollywood’s most prolific directors, known for films such as “This Is Spinal Tap,” “Stand by Me,” “The Princess Bride,” “Misery,” “When Harry Met Sally…” and “A Few Good Men.”
His Hollywood success didn’t keep the director from spending time with his children. Along with Nick, Rob was also a father to Romy and Jake Reiner.
“I was never, ever too busy,” Rob told Fresh Air in September ahead of the premiere of “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.” “I mean, if anything, I was the other way, you know, I was more hands-on and trying to do whatever I thought I could do to help. I’m sure I made mistakes and, you know, I’ve talked about that with him since.”
At the time, Rob believed Nick was finally in a good place.
“He’s been great … hasn’t been doing drugs for over six years,” Reiner said. “He’s in a really good place.”
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Rob Reiner, Michele Singer, Romy Reiner, Nick Reiner, Maria Gilfillan and Jake Reiner at “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues” premiere on Sept. 9. (Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)
The Reiners remained close with Nick despite his struggles. Nick even joined the family for the premiere of “Spinal Tap II” in September.
“They were such a tight-knit family. They did everything together,” a source connected to the family told People magazine. Still, “they could never reach stability with Nick. They tried everything – giving him space, keeping him close – but his struggles are so deep. It’s just a parent’s worst nightmare.”
“They were such lovely people,” added another insider, “and tried in every way to help their son.”
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Rob Reiner and Michele Singer at the premiere of “When Harry Met Sally…” on July 13, 1989. (Ralph Dominguez/MediaPunch via Getty Images)
According to friend and cinematographer Barry Markowitz, the Reiners’ lives were “business as usual” weeks before the murders. Markowitz, who worked with Rob and Nick on “Being Charlie,” stayed with the couple at the end of November while in town for a film premiere.
“Romy was in and out [of the house] and at dinner time she comes over, and we all bulls— together,” Markowitz told Page Six. “[We would] scream at the TV, we watched a movie and a basketball game. Played with the dogs. Family time. One big love fest.”
According to Markowitz, Nick seemed to be “on the upswing.” “He looked great. He was sitting and talking with the family,” Markowitz shared. “They eat dinner together, old school, and a lot of love, always a lot of love.”
The cinematographer claimed he hadn’t seen “anything strange” between Nick and his family during his five-night stay.
“He helped out, he took out the garbage, he watched TV, he washed dishes,” he recalled. “He’d bring me something to drink. He was just normal in that sense.”
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Fox News Digital’s Christina Dugan Ramirez contributed to this report.