Zooey Deschanel is remembering “kind” and “fatherly” costar Rob Reiner.
The 500 Days of Summer star paid a heartfelt tribute to her New Girl costar, who was recently found dead along with his wife, Michele Reiner, in his Los Angeles home.
“He was just one of those people where you think, ‘I cannot believe I get to work with this person,'” Zooey told People of Rob, with whom she shared screen for six years on the series as his onscreen daughter. “He was so kind. He was fatherly to all of us.”
The actress went on to say, “Everybody in the New Girl community loved him.”
“Actors from the show— everyone from the show is devastated,” she added.
For those unversed, on Sunday, December 14, Rob and Michele were murdered and later that day, their son Nick was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with his parents’ deaths.
Zooey also penned down a touching note in memory of Rob on her Instagram account on Monday, December 14.
“My heart is broken. Rob Reiner was the absolute warmest, funniest, most generous of spirits,” she wrote.
“He actually went to college with my mom,” she continued, recalling the good and memorable time she spent with Rob on set and off set.
“He gave great advice,” she noted. “He had this thing about him where he really wanted everyone to succeed. He was very encouraging, always interested in what I was doing, and I remember, happy to hear about my kids.”
