Director Paul Feig pays tribute to Rob Reiner: 'I just loved the man so much'

Paul Feig has paid tribute to fellow filmmaker Rob Reiner following the deaths of him and his wife, photographer Michele Singer Reiner.

The Bridesmaids director has described Reiner as one of his "heroes" after the couple were found dead at their home in Brentwood, Los Angeles on Sunday. Their 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, was arrested later that night on suspicion of murdering his parents.

Speaking to Variety on Monday night, Feig recalled time spent with Reiner.

"I was lucky enough to get to sit next to Rob about 10 years ago at a dinner party, and we talked for hours, and he was always one of my heroes," he said. "He's one of my directing heroes on top of being one of my acting heroes."

The A Simple Favor director added that he and Reiner had recently reconnected.

"Then in the last year we reconnected and I moderated a bunch of panels for him, (like) Spinal Tap, and we did a panel at Comic-Con together and I just loved the man so much," Feig shared.

Remembering Reiner and his wife, Feig stated, "(Rob) and Michele were so wonderful and I'm just absolutely devastated by it."

Elsewhere in the interview, Feig revealed that, before Reiner's tragic death, he had invited him to the Monday premiere of his forthcoming thriller, The Housemaid.

"I invited Rob to the premiere tonight because he did Misery, a comedy guy who took on a thriller and made an iconic thriller," he told the outlet. "I was saying to Rob, 'You inspired me to do this.'"