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Before his death at age 98 last month, Carl Reiner said goodbye with a touching final performance. The actor and director took part in fan-made film version of The Princess Bride, playing the grandfather alongside his son, Rob Reiner, who directed the original 1987 film.
Quibi‘s Princess Bride project, which gathered dozens of actors to recreate scenes in the beloved comedy, raised money for charity and was filmed entirely in quarantine. The film’s creator, Juno director Jason Reitman, recruited celebrities to swap characters, playing different parts in each installment. Rob played the grandfather earlier in the film with Josh Gad starring as his grandson, and in the final sequence, Rob takes on the child role, while his own father plays the grandfather, Vanity Fair reports.
“I don’t know if you know this, but in the last one, my father’s going to play the grandfather and I’m going to play the grandson,” Rob told Vanity Fair on June 25. “He’s doing good. I just talked to him a few minutes ago. For a guy who’s 98, he’s doing all right.”
Carl died just four days later, on June 29. His son confirmed his death on Twitter, writing, “As I write this my heart is hurting. He was my guiding light.”
In Carl’s final scene, he narrates the Princess Bride story, reading the happy ending featuring Westley and Buttercup’s famous kissing scene.
Reitman was shocked to hear of Carl’s death, telling Vanity Fair he felt he “had just seen him.” “It dawned on me: It was his final performance on not only a perfect career, but a perfect life,” he said. “It felt like one more chance to see Carl Reiner. It was actually a scene about the love of a grandfather and a grandson. It’s a scene about storytelling. You can’t help but imagine Carl reading stories to Rob when he was a kid, and that this is what it looked like and what it felt like.”
The director sent the footage of Carl’s final scene to his family, and after they gave their approval, he continued with the project as planned, keeping the footage in the film. “At 98 years old, Carl Reiner understood every beat of that scene,” Reitman said. “His understanding of the writing, the performance, the pauses, the gestures, the hat, the look to camera, how to make an exit, were as sharp as any actor at any age.”
The first installment of The Princess Bride fan film debuted on Quibi June 29, with new sequences premiering over the course of two weeks. “Chapter 10,” the final episode featuring Carl and Rob, is now available on Quibi.
