Ryan Reynolds, Colin Hanks say their John Candy doc offers lesson in grief

TORONTO – A new documentary presents beloved Canadian comic John Candy as a people-pleaser who loved to make others laugh.

It’s a common trait among comedians, but the film’s producer Ryan Reynolds says it was a dangerous one for Candy because it masked private struggles – among them, unresolved childhood trauma, anxiety and self-esteem issues.

“Growing up in that industry is difficult,” Reynolds said during a round of media interviews at the recent Toronto International Film Festival, where the film premiered.

“I do think that the intersection of people-pleaser and mental health issues, there’s something interesting happens at that place where you still want to say, ‘I’m fine.’ And you’re not. And it’s a very dangerous thing,” said the Vancouver-born star, who adds another project to a resume that ranges from ’00s rom-com “The Proposal” to the R-rated “Deadpool” franchise and soccer series “Welcome to Wrexham.”

“John Candy: I Like Me” traces the life and tragic death of the film and TV actor who exploded from Canadian sketch series “SCTV” into a string of Hollywood hits through the ’80s and early ’90s including “Stripes,” “Splash,” “Uncle Buck,” and “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” He died in 1994 at age 43. 

Seated next to Reynolds, director Colin Hanks said he hopes the film encourages conversation about psychological well-being, calling therapy “a lifesaver” for himself. 

Hanks, whose father Tom Hanks starred opposite Candy in “Splash,” said the film tries to present a fuller portrait of the man behind the celebrity.

“I didn’t know that he had lost his father at a young age. I didn’t know that his grandfather also died of heart failure as well,” said Hanks, whose acting credits include the FX series “Fargo” and the upcoming Nazi thriller “Nuremberg.”

“And that those coping mechanisms turned him into the man that he was, which is celebrated and special and unique, but that he also was coming to that time in his adult life where those coping mechanisms weren’t necessarily as healthy anymore. And that he was starting to do the work on himself to change, and unfortunately, ran out of time.”

The Prime Video project includes interviews with many of Candy’s famous friends, including Bill Murray, Catherine O’Hara, Tom Hanks, Dan Aykroyd, Martin Short, Macaulay Culkin and Eugene Levy, who remember a gregarious entertainer who enjoyed good food and drink, and was kind and generous on- and off-screen.

But they also reveal Candy’s anxiety over frequent jokes about his size and lingering grief over the sudden death of his father just before his fifth birthday.

Candy’s adult children Jennifer and Chris, who also appear in the film with their mother Rose, say they welcomed the chance to celebrate their dad but also spur open conversation about mental health and grief.

“It’s important to talk about loss, and so many people go through it,” Chris Candy said while seated beside his sister Jennifer Candy-Sullivan.

Candy-Sullivan said years of therapy have helped her family become more comfortable speaking about their dad’s struggles and sharing lessons they’ve learned. She said her own grief continues over his sudden death while on a film set in Mexico, but she sees the documentary as part of that process.

“It doesn’t matter who they are, celebrity or non-celebrity, you can relate to it. Everyone can relate it,” she said.

“At the end of the day, a loss is a loss and it’s still hard, and it doesn’t matter if it’s abrupt or if it prolonged.”

She credits her dad’s “great group of friends” with rallying around the family after his death from heart failure, a seismic entertainment news event at the time that included star-packed funerals in Brentwood, Calif. and Toronto. 

“They came in droves, they were there, they dropped everything to be there and to support our mom and to support us,” Candy-Sullivan recalls.

“It was for me a blur, but I do remember pockets of everything and people being around and then the house always being full of family and friends and people bringing food.”

Reynolds, whose own screen stardom has made him a favourite of entertainment news shows and sites, said the best documentaries reveal something about yourself, too. 

“And I certainly learned a little about myself watching John, you know, myself having a lifelong obsession with him,” said Reynolds.

“It felt to me like he was operating as a person living on borrowed time. That he really felt a ticking clock to do all of these different things, to set up his family so that they would be OK. And I can’t imagine what that’s like. I really can’t because in the end, he really wanted to go home (from his last film shoot), really, more than anything. 

“He just wanted to be home. And he didn’t make it home.”

“John Candy: I Like Me” premieres Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2025.