Stand by Me star Wil Wheaton is speaking out about the tragic death of Rob Reiner. Currently, Wheaton is touring with Corey Feldman and Jerry O'Connell for the 40th anniversary of the classic film.
Videos by Wide Open Country
"Jerry and Corey and I felt like we just kind of picked up right where we left off," Wheaton told People on July 17. However, the film's celebration has been dampened by the death of the film's director.
Reiner's son Nick is accused of murdering the director and his wife, Michele, on December 14. He's facing two counts of first-degree murder.
"We went from being so excited and so on top of the world to that unbelievable loss. Right before all of us were just convinced that we'd be seeing him this year. That we would be getting together to celebrate the movie," Wheaton explained.
'Stand by Me' Star Speaks Out About Rob Reiner
"I'm just so grateful that we had done those shows together right before. So that we had a place to land, the three of us. With the only other two people in the world who were really going to be able to understand what the rest of us were experiencing."
Meanwhile, Wheaton is trying to keep the joy and focus on how the Stand by Me film has impacted the youth and inspired future filmmakers to follow Reiner.
"It's wonderful that young filmmakers are seeing [Stand by Me] and dedicating themselves to a similar kind of storytelling and not feeling like they need to immediately lean into giant Hollywood blockbusters," says Wheaton.
"Every now and then when I get an opportunity to speak to teenagers or college students. And they talk about Stand by Me, what comes up over and over and over again is it's a little movie," Wheaton continues. "It's about real emotion - it's about relationships. It's about children desperately trying to connect to their parents who could not care less about them. These are things that a lot of artists experience."
