Jack Black took a moment during his visit to Late Night With Seth Meyers on Tuesday night (Dec. 16) to pay tribute to late Hollywood legend Rob Reiner. Just days after Reiner and wife Michele Singer Reiner were found in their Los Angeles home after police say they were stabbed to death — the couple’s 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, has been charged with two counts of first degree murder in the case — Black said he would “feel weird” if he didn’t talk about Reiner’s influence on his career.
“I don’t really want to talk about anything other than Rob Reiner because he was such an incredible inspiration to me,” said Black of the producer/writer/director and actor who began his nearly 60-year career on Normal Lear’s landmark All in the Family sitcom before going on to direct such beloved films as This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally…, A Few Good Men and modern other classics.
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“There is no Tenacious D without Spinal Tap,” Black said of the profound influence Reiner’s directing debut about a hapless group of heavy metal has-beens had on his bombastic, joketastic hard rock duo with partner Kyle Gass. “And anyone out here, any of the young millennials that haven’t seen Spinal Tap do yourself a favor. There’s no School of Rock without Spinal Tap,” Black noted of his beloved 2003 comedy about a school teacher/frustrated rocker who whips a group of fifth graders into a proper rock back for a crucial Battle of the Bands competition to raise rent money.
“I love so many of his movies. It’s like an incredible oeuvre of films that he made. What a genius,” Black added of the much-praised and beloved second-generation Hollywood talent who was also a die-hard supporter of many charitable causes and loud and proud liberal activist who supported same-sex marriage after California passed Prop 8, which banned it in the state, and who also helped chair the campaign to create early childhood development services funded by a tax on tobacco products in the state.
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“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,” Black said.
He joined a massive list of political, entertainment and public figures who paid homage to Reiner following what appears to be the shocking alleged double parricide, a list that includes such friends and contemporaries as Albert Brooks, close friend Billy Crystal, Paul McCartney, Larry David, Jamie Lee Curtis, Princess Bride star Cary Elwes, Stephen King, Jerry Seinfeld, Howard Stern, former Presidents Clinton, Obama and Biden and hundreds of others.
Not included on that list is Donald Trump, whose initial post on Reiner’s death he claimed was “reportedly… due to the anger he caused others,” blaming the tragic incident on what he deemed “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” an apparent reference to Reiner’s loud and frequent criticism of the president. The comments drew angry rebukes from a number of Reiner fans, with Gracie Abrams decrying Trump’s “poisonous & vile narcissism,” Jimmy Kimmel, who slammed Trump’s comments as “hateful and vile” and Jack White, who dubbed Trump’s dark eulogy as “vile” and “narcissistic.“
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During his visit, Black also reminisced about hosting Saturday Night Live 20 years ago on the episode that featured Lonely Island’s breakthrough viral video, “Lazy Sunday,” a song Black said he remembered Beck calling “a legit banger.”
“And I was like, ‘yeah it is,’ and that’s when I knew these guys were, you know, for real,” Black said of the trio comprised of lifelong friends Andy Samberg and director/writers Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer. Black can be seen in the new remake of the 1997 Jennifer Lopez/Ice Cube camp horror classic Anaconda alongside pal Paul Rudd, Steve Zahn, Thandie Newton and Selton Mello, which is out on Christmas Day.
