'Being Charlie' executive producer remembers Nick Reiner as ‘gentle guy’ despite troubled past
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: One of the producers, Douglas Shaffer, who collaborated with Rob Reiner and Nick Reiner on their 2015 film ‘Being Charlie’, is finding it hard to accept the shocking tragedy of the death of the filmmaker and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, according to PEOPLE.
Nick's friends and collaborators acknowledged that he had a long history of struggles with substance abuse and mental health challenges, including multiple stints in rehabilitation.
Douglas Shaffer didn’t see any ‘inner rage’ in Nick Reiner
"From my interactions with Nick, he seemed like a gentle guy," Douglas Shaffer, who worked on ‘Being Charlie’ as an executive producer, told PEOPLE.
Nick wrote the movie's script with friend Matt Elisofon, based in part on Nick's experiences with d**g addiction from an early age, while Rob directed the film.
"He was very open. You didn't see this inner rage or anything like that," Shaffer added of Nick, who has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of his parents.
"He seemed just kind of calm, cool, and collected, and he was young at the time. He was 22, but again, that's where it's just that this is a mystery," Shaffer noted.
Another producer of the movie ‘did not see it coming’
While talking to PEOPLE, Shaffer mentioned another movie producer, Stephanie Rennie, who was someone from the production who was more familiar with Nick and Elisofon.
"When she heard about the news, she said, 'It's a fever dream... it's just unfathomable,'" Shaffer recalled. "She didn't see it coming. Nobody saw it coming, and she was closer to those guys, and it doesn't make any sense to her."
"Hopefully, as this whole thing progresses, we can gain a better understanding as far as what happened, because I feel like it is a mental health issue that needs to be on the forefront of a lot of discussions," Shaffer continued.
"It is a big talking point that sometimes just gets swept under the rug, and it affects a lot of people, and it affects a lot of families. Obviously, it affected this family, who seemed to have the perfect support system for their son, and you can only imagine other people who are dealing with that," said Shaffer.
Nick, while promoting 'Being Charlie', was very transparent about his "dark years," where he had a hard time with addiction that dated back to his teenage years and Rob mentioned that he felt "desperate" to help his child through the tough time.
Nick made his first appearance in court on Wednesday, December 17. His arraignment is scheduled to continue on January 7.
