Jack Black has paid personal tribute to Rob Reiner, crediting the late director for inspiring some of his most beloved work.
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The 78-year-old filmmaker and his wife, the photographer Michele Singer-Reiner, were found murdered in their home in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles last weekend (December 14).
A day later, the couple’s 32-year-old son Nick Reiner was arrested in connection with their deaths and he has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder with “special circumstances”. His charges could carry a life sentence or the death penalty under California law.
Black appeared on Late Night With Seth Meyers this week (December 16) and spent a significant amount of his segment heaping praise on Reiner and crediting him with being the inspiration behind both Tenacious D and School Of Rock.
“I don’t really want to talk about anything other than Rob Reiner because he was such an incredible inspiration to me,” Black said. “And if you mention Tenacious D, there is no Tenacious D without Spinal Tap. And anyone out here, any of the young millennials that haven’t seen Spinal Tap, do yourself a favour. There’s no School of Rock without Spinal Tap.”
“I love so many of his movies,” he continued. “It’s like an incredible oeuvre of films that he made. What a genius. I just wanted to really quick give a shout-out to one of the biggest inspirations of my life and send love to the universe to one of the greats. He brought so much joy.”
1984’s This Is Spinal Tap was Reiner’s directorial debut, with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer playing the members of the fictional English heavy metal band Spinal Tap and Reiner himself playing Marty Di Bergi, the “documentarian” making a film about their attempted comeback.
The sequel, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, was released as Reiner’s last film earlier this year. Paul McCartney had a cameo in it, and this week, the Beatle paid his own tribute to Reiner, writing: “Life can be so unfair and this tragedy proves it”.
Less complimentary about Reiner was Donald Trump, who posted a personal attack on the late director on Monday (December 15), suggesting that his death was brought about by his hatred of the President.
His comments drew extensive criticism, including from Jack White, who said: “Trump you disgusting, vile, egomaniac loser, child. Neither he nor any one of his followers can defend this gross, horrible insult to a beautiful artist who gave the world so much. To use someone’s tragic death to promote your own vanity and fascist authoritarian agenda is a corrupt and narcissistic sin.”
Reiner was also known for helming Hollywood classics such as Stand By Me (1986), The Princess Bride (1987), When Harry Met Sally (1989), Misery (1990) and A Few Good Men (1992).
As for Black, his new film is a reboot of the 1997 horror adventure Anaconda, in which he stars alongside Paul Rudd and Thandiwe Newton. It is out in the UK on Boxing Day.
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