Kiefer Sutherland recalls “extraordinary” day with Rob Reiner on “A Few Good Men” set

Kiefer Sutherland was directed by Rob Reiner at the start of his career when he filmed the 1992 legal drama “A Few Good Men.”

Sutherland recalled the day Jack Nicholson, who played Colonel Nathan Jessup, delivered his famous courtroom line, “You can’t handle the truth!” Nicholson did the entire scene from one end to the other in one “breathtaking” take, Sutherland said.

“No one said a word, and Rob went up to Jack Nicholson and whispered in his ear, ‘Do you want to do another one?’ And Jack Nicholson said, ‘Well, we’re here,'” Sutherland told CBS News in the upcoming special “CBS News: Rob Reiner – Scenes from a Life,” airing Sunday. “So they did another one, and it was just as extraordinary.”

The plan was to continue shooting the whole day, Sutherland said, but Reiner was so impressed with Nicholson’s last shot that he sent everyone home early.

“They had planned to shoot the whole day, and Rob looked at everybody and said, ‘I couldn’t ask for anything more, so you guys all have the rest of the day off,” Sutherland said.

Reiner and his wife, Michele, were found fatally stabbed in their Los Angeles home on Dec. 14, authorities said. Their son, Nick, has been charged with first-degree murder in their deaths.

You can hear more from Sutherland and others who knew Reiner in the one-hour special “CBS News: Rob Reiner – Scenes from a Life.” It will be broadcast Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT on CBS, and will stream on Paramount+.