'Nobody Saw It Coming': Nick Reiner Seemed Like a 'Gentle Guy' Before Parents' Grisly Deaths

Those who crossed paths with Nick Reiner said they never imagined he would one day be linked to the brutal deaths of his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner.

Several people who worked closely with Nick over the years are now speaking out, describing him as “calm” and soft-spoken — a far cry from the two counts of first-degree murder he now faces. He was arrested on December 14 for allegedly killing his parents.

Douglas Shaffer, who collaborated with both Rob and Nick on the 2015 film Being Charlie, said the tragedy left him stunned.

"From my interactions with Nick, he seemed like a gentle guy," Douglas told an outlet.

"He was very open. You didn't see this inner rage or anything like that," he said of Nick. “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."

Being Charlie loosely mirrored Nick's real-life battle with addiction. A source previously said Rob and Michele believed the film “would help build Nick's confidence in the industry and in himself.”

The movie starred Nick Robinson as Charlie, a young man struggling with substance abuse and a strained relationship with his parents, while his father, David — played by Cary Elwes — runs for political office. Nick co-wrote the script with Matt Elisofon, whom The New York Times identified as a friend Nick met while in rehab.

Stephanie Rennie, another member of the production team, was equally shaken by the info, according to Douglas.

"When she heard about the news, she said, 'It's a fever dream... it's just unfathomable,'" Douglas 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."

Beyond the legal case, Douglas stressed the deeper problem at play.

"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," he said. "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."

However, not everyone who worked on the film shared the same impression, as Erik Audé, another actor in Being Charlie, offered a far more critical perspective.

“He’s a nepo-baby, a spoiled kid to the tee,” the stunt performer told Page Six. “Obviously, [Rob] loved his son because he’s doing this movie for his son, and still, his son was unappreciative.”

“You could tell [Nick] was spoiled and Rob was just sick of his s---,” Erik claimed. “I just assumed, whether this is correct or not, this kid must be pushing all his buttons.”

Erik also told Daily Mail that the relationship between father and son appeared tense while they were on set.

“They bickered or they were bickering. They were going off on each other on set. It wasn't comfortable. There was definitely hostility there,” Erik continued.