Jerry O’Connell is grieving director Rob Reiner, who was like a father to him.
Jerry, who starred in Reiner’s beloved 1986 film Stand By Me, has shared his reaction to the gruesome murders of Rob and his wife Michele.
“We’re all shocked. I can’t speak for them [costars Wil Wheaton and Corey Feldman], but for myself, I feel like a parent has passed, you know?” Jerry told People. “I just feel like a parent has passed.”
The Tomcats star dubbed the murders “really devastating,” adding, “Everything I have in my life is because of Rob Reiner. Everything I have, my children, my wife, my, just everything.”
He went on to praise the Oscar-nominated director for protecting the young cast of the film.
“We were saying, we have no idea how he herded a bunch of like 11, 12 and 13-year-old for this movie,” he recalled of talking to costars Wheaton and Feldman. “And not only herd us, it wasn’t like a teacher or an authority figure. He was just a special, he was just a special human being… he is just a kind soul, really. A kind soul.”
Rob Reiner and his wife were found with their throats slit in their Los Angeles home. The couple’s son Nick, 32, has been arrested after being questioned.
