A Chat With Rob Reiner

The veteran director talks about his latest movie, ‘Spinal Tap II,’ and his long career as a member of Hollywood royalty

A.J. Baime,

AARP

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Published September 12, 2025

“These go to 11.” “There’s a fine line between stupid and clever.” “Hello, Cleveland!” The 1984 movie This Is Spinal Tap is jammed with so many iconic one-liners, it’s as if its characters transcended the screen to walk among us in our daily lives. This Is Spinal Tap is credited with popularizing a movie genre: the mockumentary, a documentary of a made-up subject for the sake of laughs. Now 41 years old, the film has been called, by at least one magazine (Time Out), the best comedy of all time. Turns out, fans are still laughing.

The movie was rereleased this summer in over a thousand theaters countrywide in advance of the sequel, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, which arrives in theaters this month. The band members — Nigel Tufnel (played by Christopher Guest), David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) — are all back, as is the film’s producer, director and costar, Rob Reiner (who plays the documentary filmmaker Marty Di Bergi).

Now 78, Reiner remains an entertainment-biz stalwart. He grew up the son of legendary actor and director Carl Reiner, who passed away in 2020. We first got to know the younger Reiner as Meathead in the TV sitcom in All in the Family; he later directed hit movies from When Harry Met Sally to Misery to Stand by Me. But This Is Spinal Tap remains among his most memorable. The making of that movie, and how Reiner has reached this moment in his life, is a story that’s just as good as any you’d see on the big screen.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

"I used to joke that if I ever won the Nobel Prize, people would say that Meathead won the Nobel," says Rob Reiner.

Scott Mcdermott/Trunk Archive

Your father was Carl Reiner, the creator of The Dick Van Dyke Show and director of hit comedy movies. Did you have a normal childhood?

I thought it was normal, because you don’t have anything to compare it to. Oddly enough, my father was on television before we had a television. We bought one in 1951 so we could see him on Saturday nights. It wasn’t until I went to my friends’ houses that I found it wasn’t as funny over there. Because, you know, Mel Brooks was around our house, and Norman Lear. Groucho Marx. The Monty Python people. Everybody that made people laugh came by the house.

Did your father pressure you to go into show business?

I think he was actually nervous about me getting into the same business because the guy had 12 Emmys and was an unbelievable success. Was it tough to live up to? I remember my parents told me a story that when I was a kid, I wanted to change my name. And they thought, Oh, poor kid. He’s worried about living in the shadow. They asked me what I wanted to change my name to. And I said “Carl”! Because I wanted to be just like my father.

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Most people first got to know you as Meathead, Archie Bunker’s son-in-law on All in the Family. Do people still call you Meathead?

I do get called that sometimes. I used to joke that if I ever won the Nobel Prize, people would say that Meathead won the Nobel.

From left: Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker, Reiner as Michael Stivic, and Sally Struthers as Gloria Bunker Stivic in the 1970s sitcom "All in the Family."

CBS via Getty Images

Why do you think people still talk about that show after all these years?

We presented both sides pretty equally. It was the way we played off of each other that made it funny. The creator, Norman Lear, wanted the conversation to happen for people to talk afterward. At the time, we were a country of about 200 million people, and every Saturday we got 40 to 45 million people watching that show. That meant you had 40 to 45 million people having a shared experience every week. And they would talk about it after. I don’t think they would allow that show today. It’s too politically incorrect.

You have directed hit movies for decades, including When Harry Met Sally, Misery, A Few Good Men and This Is Spinal Tap. Do any stand out for you?

The one that means the most to me is probably Stand by Me [the 1986 adaptation of a Stephen King novel], because it was the first time I made a movie that was very separate from anything my father would’ve done. My father trafficked in satire. Stand by Me was the first time I did something that was really an extension of my personality. It had humor in it, but it also had emotion and some nostalgia and all of that. I wouldn’t say it was the best. That’s for other people to decide. But that one means the most to me.

This Is Spinal Tap came out in 1984, but it wasn’t successful right away, correct?

People didn’t understand it. They thought it was a real documentary. We screened it in Dallas for the first time, and people said to me, “Well, I don’t get this. Why would you make a movie about a band that nobody’s ever heard of? And one that’s this bad!” I tried to explain that, well, it’s satire.

Reiner with Christopher Guest in "This Is Spinal Tap."

Courtesy Fathom Entertainment

This Is Spinal Tap evolved into a beloved movie. People quote it every day. Did you know that would happen?

We had no idea! Over the years it became this cult classic. Like you say, people started quoting it. You know, “These go to 11.” Or “There’s a fine line between stupid and clever.” Over the years it kept growing. It has been put in the Library of Congress and into the National Film Registry. Recently, Time Out magazine had a story about the best comedies of all time, and This Is Spinal Tap was number one. I was blown away. We get approached by rock stars all the time, saying it’s a staple on their tour bus. Sting told me that he’s seen it so many times that every time he watches it he doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Spinal Tap II is about the band re-forming for one last show after a 15-year hiatus. Paul McCartney and Elton John have big roles. Were you worried about being able to capture lightning in a bottle again?

You’re always concerned. The thing is, we are all steeped in improvisation. That’s the world we come out of. So you know, can we kick that horse again? Make it run? There are some big laughs in the new movie.

The new film explores comebacks. Does the film have specific things to say about reinvention?

It basically says: No matter how old you are, if you can still do it and still enjoy doing it, then do it. I asked Paul McCartney about this. I said, “There’s you, Mick Jagger, Elton John, and you still like to perform. What is it about you guys? Is it that you just love the music? And you love performing?” And he says, “Yeah. And the drugs.” [A joke line in the new movie.] The point is, these guys just love doing it. If they’re given an opportunity, they’ll get in front of an audience and play.

More About Movies for Grownups

AARP’s advocacy work includes fighting ageism in Hollywood and encouraging the entertainment industry to tap into the unique perspectives and talents that actors, writers and producers who are 50 and older bring to their work. AARP’s annual Movies for Grownups Awards, telecast on PBS, celebrates the achievements of the 50-plus community in film and television. This year’s honorees included best actress Oscar winner Demi Moore (The Substance) and best actor Oscar winner Adrien Brody (The Brutalist).

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A.J. Baime is a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal and AARP publications, and is the author of several books on American history and the auto industry.