Ryan Reynolds & Colin Hanks On Their Documentary ‘John Candy: I Like Me’

Over the course of his incredible career, comedian and actor John Candy gained countless fans around the world. Among them was a young kid growing up in Vancouver named Ryan Reynolds. The future star of the Deadpool movies first took notice of fellow Canadian Candy on SCTV, the sketch comedy show that would launch some of comedy’s greatest talents including Candy, Eugene Levy, Martin Short, Dave Thomas and Catherine O’Hara.

Decades after Candy’s untimely passing, Reynolds explores what made the performer special not only as an actor but as a human being in the Emmy-contending documentary John Candy: I Like Me. The film, streaming on Prime Video, is produced by Reynolds and directed and produced by Colin Hanks.

On the new episode of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, Reynolds and Hanks stop by our studios to discuss the documentary, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in Candy’s hometown. Reynolds tells us about the formative experiences in Candy’s life – including losing his father on the very day John was celebrating his 5th birthday. He observes how that tragic experience would lead Candy down a path of becoming a people pleaser – part of the secret of what made him so lovable to audiences and to his friends, but also a burden that would weigh on him later in life.

Hanks shares memories of meeting Candy on the set of Splash, the Ron Howard-directed film that helped kick off the movie careers of Candy and of Colin’s father, Tom Hanks. (Colin reveals why his dad felt nervous about the prospect of working with Candy on Splash). The director also explores “the hardest part of the story to crack” as he set about constructing the film. 

Hanks and Reynolds also reveal how they got Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd to take part in the film, along with so many who knew and loved Candy (Reynolds does a terrific impression of Aykroyd). We also discuss how Candy delivered one of his most famous lines of dialogue on screen – words evoked in the subtitle to the film.

That’s on the new episode of Doc Talk hosted by John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, Shirley) and Matt Carey, Deadline’s senior documentary editor. The pod is a production of Deadline and Ridley’s Nō Studios.

Listen to the episode above or on major podcast platforms including Spotify, iHeart and Apple.