Kiefer Sutherland Recalls ‘Extraordinary’ Day With Rob Reiner Before Murder

Kiefer Sutherland recalled working with late director Rob Reiner on one of his most popular films, the 1992 legal drama A Few Good Men, decades before his death.

Sutherland, 58, specifically remembered costar Jack Nicholson impressing Reiner by delivering the film’s iconic “You can’t handle the truth” scene in one take.

“No one said a word, and Rob went up to Jack Nicholson and whispered in his ear, ‘Do you want to do another one?’ And Jack Nicholson said, ‘Well, we’re here,'” Sutherland said in a clip from the upcoming special CBS News: Rob Reiner — Scenes From a Life released on Friday, December 19. “So they did another one, and it was just as extraordinary.”

Reiner decided that Nicholson’s work was so impressive, everyone could go home early that day.

Reporters Share 'Eerie' Details About Night of Rob Reiner's Murder

“They had planned to shoot the whole day, and Rob looked at everybody and said, ‘I couldn’t ask for anything more, so you guys all have the rest of the day off,’” Sutherland remembered.

Sutherland also worked with Reiner on the 1986 film Stand by Me, along with Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry O’Connell. Sutherland, Feldman, 54, Wheaton, 53, and O’Connell, 51, all shared tributes to Reiner following the news of his and wife Michele Singer Reiner’s deaths on Sunday, December 14.

“Rob was a good person who put great art into the world, who made a positive difference in more lives than any of us can imagine,” Wheaton wrote in a blog post on Monday, December 15. “The world is a better place thanks to his activism and the way he chose to use all of his privilege and influence. Rest in peace Rob and Michele. May their memories be a blessing.”

Hours after their murders, Rob and Michele’s son Nick Reiner was arrested on suspicion of murder and held without bail. He was subsequently charged with two counts of first-degree murder and faces life in prison without parole or the death penalty if convicted.

Nick appeared in court for the first time on Wednesday, December 17, with his lawyer Alan Jackson. He did not yet enter a plea. An arraignment is set for January 7, 2026.

Rob and Michele’s deaths were ruled a homicide, and their official cause of death was listed as “multiple sharp force injuries.” The director was 78 and the photographer was 70. (Rob and Michele also shared son Jake, 34, and daughter Romy, 27, as well as Rob’s older daughter, Tracy, 61, whom he adopted during his first marriage to Penny Marshall.)

Following Nick’s arrest, Feldman appeared in The Rob Reiner Story: A Hollywood Tragedy – ABC News Special on Tuesday, December 16. He revealed he suspected Nick’s involvement in Rob and Michele’s deaths right away.

“As we watched the news unfold, I was actually the first one who said, ‘I think it was his son,’” Feldman told the camera. “It’s awful. It’s the worst thing I could imagine. … Accepting that fact that this could have happened in his home from his own son, it sent shivers and chills down all of us.”

“All I could think is, ‘Oh my God, there’s no way this could have happened to my friend,’” Feldman recalled.