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Amy Madigan fondly recalls working with John Candy on the 1989 comedy Uncle Buck
She tells PEOPLE her late costar was “the kindest, most generous person” and remembers how he nearly made her break character because he was so funny
Madigan, 75, is now starring in Weapons and is nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 2026 Oscars
Amy Madigan recalls how John Candy would crack her up on the set of Uncle Buck.
The actress, 75, tells PEOPLE the late comedian was “the kindest, most generous person” who nearly made her break character when they worked together on the 1989 John Hughes comedy.
In the movie, Candy played the flawed-but-big-hearted titular character tasked with watching his brother’s kids — played by Jean Louisa Kelly, Macaulay Culkin and Gabby Hoffmann — following a family emergency.
Madigan costarred as Buck’s longtime girlfriend Chanice Kobolowski, whose patience was tested by the impulsive Buck.
In some scenes, “I’m supposed to be angry with him as his girlfriend,” Madigan recalls, “and he would be off camera and it was really hard to keep a straight face.”
Amy Madigan in ‘Uncle Buck.’
Credit: Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection
“I really had a lot of fun doing that. I really did. And I got to know Mr. Candy very well,” she continues about the Canadian actor, who died of a heart attack in 1994.
Though Madigan said she has yet to see the 2025 documentary John Candy: I Like Me, a love letter to the star directed by Colin Hanks and produced by Ryan Reynolds, the actress says Candy “really does deserve” to be honored.
“He was generous, generous, generous to so many people,” says Madigan, who recalls Candy’s “great big heart.”
Uncle Buck marked Madigan’s second collaboration with Hoffmann, who also appeared with her Field of Dreams the same year. And this awards season — during which Madigan has been honored for her fierce performance as Aunt Gladys in the horror movie Weapons — reunited her with Hoffmann.
In January, Hoffmann presented Madigan with her New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress.
“I was 7 years old when I last saw Amy,” Hoffmann said at the ceremony. “I’ll be 44 in a couple of days, so that was 36 years now.”
Amy Madigan on Feb. 10, 2026.
Credit: VALERIE MACON / AFP via Getty
Hoffman recalled playing Madigan’s daughter in Field of Dreams, calling Madigan “the ultimate mommy” due to her amazing qualities: “Your warmth, your laughter, your power, your presence, your loud, giant, beautiful heart.”
Madigan’s former costar also praised the actress’s ability to pull off her performance in Weapons.
“It is a feast. It is expansive and comprehensive and just delightfully disarming,” Hoffmann said. “She is as fierce as she is tender. She is as sexy as she is silly… absolutely horrifying as she is completely vulnerable.”
Amy Madigan in ‘Weapons.’
Credit: Quantrell Colbert/Warner Bros.
Madigan is up for Best Supporting Actress at the 2026 Academy Awards, her first Oscar nomination in 40 years. She was previously nominated in 1986 in the same category for her performance in the family drama Twice in a Lifetime.
“All of this was unexpected,” she says of the attention. “That’s a very nice surprise,”
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