Cary Elwes, the leading man of Rob Reiner’s beloved 1987 movie The Princess Bride, has broken his silence on the death of the director and his wife.
Reiner, 78, and Michele, 70, were found stabbed to death December 14 at their $13.5 million Brentwood estate, where their son Nick, 32, lived in the guesthouse. Nick was arrested that night and has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
Nick had a long history of drug issues, having gone to rehab for the first time at 15 and plunged into multiple spells of homelessness before his latest stay in his parents’ guesthouse, which he confessed he ‘wrecked’ once while ‘spun out on uppers’ that kept him ‘up for days on end.’ He was also reportedly diagnosed with schizophrenia.
After a flood of tributes from the couple’s friends, Elwes, 63, heartbrokenly broke his silence this week with a fond Instagram tribute to his late director.
His statement was accompanied by on-set footage of Reiner guiding him through a fight scene with André the Giant that will be instantly recognizable to fans of the film.
That clip was followed by one of a 25th anniversary reunion Elwes had with Reiner and The Princess Bride’s female lead Robin Wright, with the director joking that the actors looked ‘exactly the same’ while he himself was ‘greyer,’ ‘fatter’ and ‘balder.’
Cary Elwes, the leading man of Rob Reiner’s beloved 1987 movie The Princess Bride, has broken his silence on the death of the director and his wife; Elwes and Reiner pictured 2012
The Princess Bride starred Elwes the dashing farmhand Westley in the rollicking tale of his quest to win the hand of Princess Buttercup, played by Robin Wright, 59
The Princess Bride starred Elwes the dashing farmhand Westley in the rollicking tale of his quest to win the hand of Princess Buttercup, played by Wright, 59.
In order to do so, he and his motley crew of fantastical friends must first rescue her from Prince Humperdinck, played by Susan Sarandon’s ex-husband Chris Sarandon.
‘Enough time has passed that I can finally put my grief into words,’ Elwes wrote in his Instagram tribute, which he shared to the platform on Tuesday.
‘I was 24 when I first met Rob Reiner on The Princess Bride. And from that very first meeting I fell in love with him. I was already a fan of his work so meeting him in person was a dream come true. As we began spending more time together I knew this was someone I wanted in my life,’ he recalled.
He hailed Reiner as someone who ‘wore his heart on his sleeve,’ ‘felt deeply’ and harbored ‘love and compassion’ in his heart.
‘This was a man who felt deeply. Whose heart was filled with love and compassion. He wasn’t impressed by how much money you had or if you had a privileged upbringing. He just wanted to know if you were a “good guy.” He always tried to find the best in people. And if that person had problems he felt bad for them,’ wrote Elwes.
‘He loved his family and friends immensely. He obviously loved making movies – and was clearly a brilliant filmmaker – but he told me what he really enjoyed the most was the experience itself,’ Elwes remembered.
‘He used to say, “Once the movie is released it belongs to other people. But while you are making it, that’s your time on the planet, so you wanna make it good.” And boy was my time with him on The Princess Bride beyond great. I can’t remember a single day without laughter,’ the Robin Hood: Men in Tights star added.
Reiner, 78, and Michele, 70, were found stabbed to death December 14 at their $13.5 million Brentwood estate, where their son Nick, 32, lived in the guesthouse; pictured 2013
His statement was accompanied by on-set footage of Reiner guiding him through a fight scene with André the Giant that will be instantly recognizable to fans of the film
‘Enough time has passed that I can finally put my grief into words,’ Elwes wrote in his Instagram tribute, which included a clip of him and Reiner laughing on the set of their film
Elwes also made reference to Reiner’s love story with his ‘incredibly loving, intelligent’ wife,’ who was ‘passionate about her family and about lifting others up.’
The Reiners were a ‘great team’ whose ‘only interest in fame was that it allowed them to shine a light on causes they believed in, especially helping those who were marginalized,’ according to Elwes.
‘In a town where many talk the talk, they truly walked it. Whenever we got together we would talk about family, life, movies and politics. But without fail Rob would always find a way to make us laugh. That was important to him. Finding the joy.’
Elwes sweetly added: ‘And if I could make him laugh in return, I felt like I had won the lottery. His laugh was one of the greatest sounds I’ve ever known — so heartfelt it still rings in my ears.’
He thanked the Reiners for ‘sharing your life and art with us. Because my heart still aches every time I think of you, I know the grief of losing you too soon will likely never go away. Sure, death cannot stop true love but life is pain without you.’
Elwes concluded: ‘With this note my family and I send our deepest condolences and heartfelt prayers to their family, friends and fans.’
The Reiners were parents to Nick as well as their daughter Romy, 27, who lived across the street from them, and another son called Jake, 34. Rob Reiner also had an older daughter called Tracy, 61, whom he adopted with his first wife Penny Marshall.
Reports claim Romy was the one who found the bodies and then allegedly told police about a ‘dangerous’ family member who ‘should be a suspect.’
Nick, seen in September 2025, was arrested hours after his parents were found stabbed to death, and he has since been charged with two counts of first-degree murder
Nick’s substance abuse began at an early age, resulting in his first rehab stint at the age of 15 and a staggering 17 stays in treatment facilities by the time he was 22
Nick is said to have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, and had become increasingly ‘erratic’ in the three or four weeks before the murders after doctors allegedly changed his medication in an attempt to stabilize him, sources told TMZ.
Insiders claimed he became ‘dangerous’ and ‘alarming’ in the month leading up to the crime, and that he was recently treated at a $70,000-a-month Los Angeles rehab with a specialty in substance abuse and mental illness.
On December 15, the day after his parents’ bodies were found, Nick was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, for which if convicted he could get the death penalty or life in prison without possibility of parole.
He appeared in court two days later shirtless under an anti-suicide vest, did not make a plea and waived his right to a speedy arraignment.
This arraignment is now scheduled to be held on January 7, giving his top-flight attorney Alan Jackson more time to prepare his case.
Jackson successfully prosecuted Phil Spector for murder, and in private practice as a defense attorney has represented Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein.
He appeared in court Wednesday shirtless under an anti-suicide vest, did not make a plea and waived his right to a speedy arraignment
Nick’s counsel issued a statement to the public saying there were ‘very, very complex and serious issues that are associated with this case.’
He requested that ‘throughout this process you allow the system to move forward in the way that it was designed to move forward, not with a rush to judgment.’
When asked who was paying his fees, he replied: ‘I can’t comment.’
Under the ‘slayer statute’ in California law, Nick will not be eligible to inherit any of his parents’ estimated $200 million estate if he is convicted of their murder – although an exception exists if he successfully lodges an insanity plea.
A source close to Rob Reiner informed the Daily Mail that Nick ‘had been living in their guesthouse, the same one he destroyed more than once, but it had been like a revolving door all his adult life.’
The insider alleged further: ‘He would do meth and not sleep for days and then have outbursts, breaking things, punching walls. He was a ticking time bomb. His drug use was getting worse and his parents wanted him out.’
Nick, the friend claimed, ‘used to brag how he could get away with anything and took money from his parents for drugs and prostitutes.’
The insider added: ‘He would talk about this stuff in meetings, but then stopped going because he said it was too cultish. He laughed about destroying his parents’ guesthouse more than once. He was so nonchalant about it.’
The bodies were discovered by the Reiners’ daughter Romy, 27, who reportedly informed the police about a ‘dangerous’ family member who ‘should be a suspect’; Romy posing with Nick
On Saturday, December 13, the night before Rob and Michele Reiner were found dead, Nick was seen having what sources described as a ‘very loud argument’ with his parents at Conan O’Brien’s star-studded Christmas party, according to TMZ.
Michele, by that point, was alleged to have spent months telling friends about trying to cope with Nick’s drug and mental problems, saying: ‘We’ve tried everything.’
Nick’s substance abuse began at an early age, resulting in his first rehab stint at the age of 15 and a staggering 17 stays in treatment facilities by the time he was 22.
Reiner laid bare his family’s turmoil by directing a 2015 film called Being Charlie, which was inspired by Nick’s rollercoaster battle with addiction.
Nick co-wrote the script, in which the main character Charlie bristles at his parents’ approach to his drug abuse, such as enforced trips to rehab.
Near the end of the movie, Charlie’s father apologizes for taking such a hard line with him, a conversation Reiner characterized as an echo of reality.
While promoting the film the year of its release, Reiner expressed regret at having relied so heavily on the advice of medical professionals in seeking help for Nick.
‘When Nick would tell us that it wasn’t working for him, we wouldn’t listen,’ he told the Los Angeles Times. ‘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.’
Reiner and Nick are pictured in 2016 at the BUILD Series promoting their film Being Charlie, which was inspired by Nick’s rollercoaster battle with addiction
Michele said: ‘We were so influenced by these people. They would tell us he’s a liar, that he was trying to manipulate us. And we believed them.’
The following year, Nick recounted his own past experiences with addiction, saying that he had become homeless in previous years because he refused to submit to the treatments he had been urged to undergo.
‘If I wanted to do it my way and not go to the programs they were suggesting, then I had to be homeless,’ he shared in an interview with People.
‘I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey. I was homeless in Texas. I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street. It was not fun.’
He eventually gave up drugs when he ‘got sick of doing that s***,’ he said. ‘I come from a nice family. I’m not supposed to be out there on the streets and in homeless shelters doing all these f***ed-up things.’
Two years later, he gave an interview in which he discussed having once destroyed his parents’ guesthouse while under the influence.
‘I got totally spun out on uppers,’ he said on a 2018 episode of the Dopey podcast. ‘I think it was coke and something else. I was up for days on end.’
He recalled ‘punching out different things in my guesthouse. I started with the TV and then went over to the lamp. Everything in the guesthouse got wrecked.’
Back in 2016, promoting Being Charlie, Nick had explained that he ‘didn’t bond’ with his father while younger but that working on the film ‘made me feel closer to him.’
He harbored hopes he would be able to retain his sobriety and avoid sinking back into homelessness, inasmuch as when he ‘was out there, I could’ve died. It’s all luck,’ he said on the BUILD Series. ‘You roll the dice and you hope you make it.’
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