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Outspoken conservative actor James Woods<\/a> on Monday opened up about why he remained friends with Rob Reiner<\/a> despite his political views following the stabbing deaths<\/a> of the director and his wife Michele.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWhen people say horrible things about Rob right now, I find it, quite frankly, infuriating and distasteful,\u201d said Woods in a Fox News<\/a> appearance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Woods told host Jesse Watters<\/a> that Reiner \u201cliterally saved\u201d his career by rallying behind him to join the cast of \u201cGhosts of Mississippi<\/a>,\u201d the director\u2019s 1996 film on the trial of white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith, who murdered civil rights leader Medgar Evers in 1963.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Woods, who starred as De La Beckwith, went on to earn an Oscar nomination for his supporting role and remained friends with Reiner, a staunch liberal and political activist who championed progressive causes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n He recalled people seeing the two laugh and kidding each other at parties, interactions they later asked him about considering their political differences.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI would say, \u2018I think Rob Reiner is a great patriot. Do I agree with some of many of his ideas on how that patriotism should be enacted to celebrate the America that we both love? No. But he doesn\u2019t agree with me either but he also respects my patriotism,\u2019\u201d Woods explained.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe had a different path to the same destination which was a country we both love.\u2032 And when people would say terrible things to me on social media about him, I said, \u2018You got it all wrong.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n