Key Insights
- Collider’s Steve Weintraub interviews Ryan Reynolds and Colin Hanks about John Candy: I Like Me at TIFF 2025.
- The documentary, directed by Hanks and produced by Reynolds, highlights Candy’s life and legacy.
- The discussion includes insights from Candy’s friends, like Bill Murray and Macaulay Culkin, and upcoming projects from Reynolds and Hanks.
There’s a lot of star power behind Prime Video’s upcoming documentary, John Candy: I Like Me, dedicated to the titular legendary comedian. In addition to being directed by Colin Hanks and produced by longtime fan Ryan Reynolds, this exploration of John Candy‘s life and legacy draws on stories from family, friends, and collaborators like Steve Martin, Martin Short, Bill Murray, and Catherine O’Hara.
More than laughs and a gentle kindness, Candy left a lasting impression on the world through his innate comedy. In Hanks’ I Like Me, fans across the globe will get to know this icon through the eyes and testimonies of his loved ones and colleagues, and through archival materials that take us back to the beginning. Childhood photos and clips throughout his career highlight his magnetism, that twinkling eye, and his infectious smile that endeared the world up until his tragic passing. Whether the top of the call sheet or comedic relief, Candy was a scene stealer with a storied filmography that includes classics like Spaceballs, Uncle Buck, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, The Great Outdoors, Home Alone, and, of course, his rise to stardom with sketch comedy.
With I Like Me premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival 2025, Collider’s Steve Weintraub had the opportunity to sit down with Hanks and Reynolds to discuss curating a documentary that can capture a bigger-than-life personality. Check out the video above or the transcript below to find out how these two joined forces to bring together Candy’s inner circle, including Macaulay Culkin and Murray (who tested Reynolds before the interview), how they determined the documentary’s unique structure, and why TIFF was the only place to debut it. Hanks also teases his role in Silo Season 3, and Reynolds addresses teasing Avengers: Doomsday on social media, hinting at an uncertain future for Deadpool in the MCU.
‘John Candy: I Like Me’ Shares Unforgettable Moments With Fans
“You have storytellers telling stories about a storyteller.”
COLLIDER: I’m so happy you guys made this. Obviously, I love John Candy, like the entire planet, and I really learned a lot watching this doc, so I just want to say thanks and congrats. It’s going to be a massive hit tonight. I’ve got to start with an individual question for you, Colin. When did you decide you wanted to own TIFF this year between John Candy and Nuremberg?
COLIN HANKS: Honestly, I wish I could say that it was a total TIFF takeover that was planned, but the stars just kind of aligned, and I just sort of said, “Yeah, I’ll take it. Why not?”
So you guys have the opening night slot, which is a really big deal, and they know what they have by scheduling this tonight. I know audiences haven’t seen it yet, but they’re going to love it. When did you realize this all works?
RYAN REYNOLDS: I mean, I think you realize it works when you love it. I think if you make something specifically for everybody else, you’re slotting yourself into almost like a studio executive mindset. You know, “Eighteen to 34-year-olds are going to absolutely adore this, and there’s merchandise to follow.” Colin had been hacking away at this sucker for a long time. Documentaries take a long time because you have to listen to them; you can’t tell them what to do. You have storytellers telling stories about a storyteller, and that’s something that is unusual and something you have to really respect. But, I mean, in the earliest cut, just seeing John and seeing footage that I’d never seen before, some of those moments you just never get back, and are moments that I’ll never forget. That’s that for me at least.
HANKS: We sort of knew that there was a certain high watermark in which it needed to feel like it was a John Candy film. It needed to have all of the feels that you have watching his movies. Our film needed to have that same thing, up to 11 essentially. Getting the film together in the state that it is is a journey in and of itself, but I knew right out of the gate, Toronto is the only place that this needs to premiere. It can’t premiere anywhere else. I was on countless phone calls and Zooms where they were like, “Well, if we finish it on this date…” And I was just like, “We’re just wasting time. It’s going to Toronto.”
REYNOLDS: Yeah. If not Toronto, it’s going to the Oakville Municipal Film Festival.
HANKS: Yeah. So it was a no-brainer that it would be here.
‘I Like Me’ Honors the Life and Legacy of a Comedy Legend
“It’s about his life. It’s not about his death.”
If you could talk a little bit about finding the structure of the film because you deal with his death very close to the beginning. Can you talk about figuring out that structure in the editing room?
HANKS: Well, you already know how the movie ends. You know what I mean? So I always feel it’s better to get that out of the way right out of the gate so that we are able to establish “This is what’s going to happen but here’s what you don’t know about how it gets to that place.” That, to me seemed like the most interesting roadmap in order to tell his story. And considering so many people have love and affection for John but really don’t know much about his history or background seemed like the most engaging way to go about it.
REYNOLDS: It’s also not an Agatha Christie story. It’s about his life. It’s not about his death.. So you get that out of the way right away and get on with his life because that’s what’s interesting about John. John’s a guy who died of heart failure and ironically enough his heart is one thing he left behind. It’s something special.
I read that you were instrumental in bringing Colin on board…
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