{"id":71227,"date":"2025-10-11T02:55:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T02:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/71227\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T02:55:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T02:55:06","slug":"i-like-me-doc-director-colin-hanks-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/71227\/","title":{"rendered":"I Like Me Doc Director Colin Hanks Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe late funnyman and actor John Candy<\/a> was the mascot of laughter and fun in Hollywood comedies before his unexpected death in 1994. <\/p>\n

\n\tBut Colin Hanks<\/a>, in directing his feature documentary<\/a> John Candy: I Like Me<\/a> for Prime Video<\/a>, discovered Candy\u2019s comedy genius on camera and off masked private struggles like childhood trauma, anxiety and self-esteem issues that he never fully tackled in his own lifetime.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe truth of the matter is, the very man that we\u2019re celebrating, who was so sweet, so sincere, so caring, so genuine, those are all traits that developed from coping mechanisms,\u201d Hanks tells The Hollywood Reporter as his feature debuts Friday on Prime Video globally. <\/p>\n

\n\tUltimately, what worked for Candy for most of his life to fend off personal ghosts and the pressures of Hollywood fame is what drew Hanks to direct John Candy: I Like Me<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the below conversation, Hanks opens up about what it took to get him to direct a feature film about John Candy, playing bad guy roles and why he couldn\u2019t imagine making a documentary again without Ryan Reynolds<\/a> on speed dial to help him out of a creative or logistical hole. <\/p>\n

\n\tWhat first drew you to directing John Candy: I Like Me, a film about the late Canadian funnyman and actor?<\/p>\n

\n\tMy producing partner had sort of floated the idea of doing a doc on John, and I kind of dismissed it at first. I was just, I don\u2019t know how to do that. He\u2019s such a nice guy. I don\u2019t know what the angle is, and my plate was a little full at that time and I didn\u2019t quite have the bandwidth.<\/p>\n

\n\tThen you got a call from Ryan Reynolds. <\/p>\n

\n\tBasically, he [Reynolds] just called and he was such a fan. He said, \u201cI just can\u2019t believe that there\u2019s not a John Candy documentary out there, and I don\u2019t know if I want to live in a world where one doesn\u2019t exist. But I don\u2019t know what that movie looks like.\u201d And I said, \u201cI agree with you on all of those fronts.\u201d I didn\u2019t disagree there should be a John Candy doc. But I didn\u2019t know how to approach that. We just had a lovely conversation, and I said I needed some time to come up with a theme, with a take. I then went off for about a month, I started doing a bunch of research, and there were two things that really landed super hard for me. The fact that John\u2019s father passed on his fifth birthday when his father was 35. That struck me as an incredibly traumatic thing to go through as a young kid and obviously shaped his entire existence. And then [John\u2019s son] Chris had mentioned that John had really started to suffer from anxiety attacks, panic attacks and started going to therapy to start working on himself. Because all of the things that had been working for him his whole life were all of a sudden no longer helping him. I said that is a film that I want to explore. And it just so happened that it\u2019s also a film about John Candy.<\/p>\n

\n\tCandy\u2019s backstory \u2014 the trauma of his father\u2019s early death, tackling his mental health issues \u2014 was hardly talked about, if at all, during the 1970s and 80s, but those issues are openly discussed today. Did that dichotomy factor into your decision to direct the documentary?<\/p>\n

The truth of the matter is, the very man that we\u2019re celebrating, who was so sweet, so sincere, so caring, so genuine, those are all traits that developed from coping mechanisms. Those are all traits that he learned at a very, very young age, living in a house with his mom and his aunt and his brother \u2014 essentially his entire family but not his father. And so one of their coping mechanisms was you invite a bunch of people over, you have a lot of food, yes, drinks, you have a good time. And that\u2019s not bad. That\u2019s a very human instinct. But it instilled in him something that, in one regard we\u2019re celebrating, and then in another regard ended up being the thing that kind of was no longer working for him. In that time, therapy was hardly discussed, definitely not in the 1960s and 1970s. Maybe a little bit more in the 1980s. But those were what people would call serious uptown problems. You were lucky if you were able to talk about your problems. A lot of people we spoke to for the film said I don\u2019t know anything about that. We just don\u2019t talk about that stuff.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe documentary also shows people, especially during media interviews, being very insensitive to Candy\u2019s issues, especially his struggles with obesity, and saying so to his face.<\/p>\n

\n\tNo, it just wouldn\u2019t fly at all today. And if you\u2019re observant; he\u2019s uncomfortable. Towards the end, he sort of deals with it, a little bit more head on as he sort of deflects and stands up for himself, while still being polite and being kind. But I was really taken aback by how uncomfortable he was in interviews, because he knows it\u2019s coming. He knows that question is coming, knows they\u2019re going to bring it up, because they always do. That societal change I thought was really, really interesting, and something that I wanted to show in the film.<\/p>\n

You mentioned a call from Ryan Reynolds convincing you to take on the project. Talk about Reynolds during the production convincing so many other people to agree to discuss John Candy on camera.<\/p>\n

\n\tI don\u2019t think the film exists without Ryan willing it to exist. It really all stems from his passion and love for John. It really is incredibly genuine. Look, Ryan is great at selling things, everyone knows that about him. And he also was passionate. I was so bogged down in schedule and trying to be cognizant of the running time of the movie and what we need and what we have, and do we have too much? Because I learned very early on in my career there is nothing more uncomfortable for a director than to interview someone for a documentary and then to have to tell them they\u2019re not in the film. So Ryan had the know-how and the clout to be able to hound Bill Murray for God knows how long to be able to get him. And Dan Aykroyd was very kind and recorded the eulogy he gave John. Ryan then pushed really hard to get an interview with him as well. And Macaulay (Culkin) was hesitant at first because, again, I never lose sight of the fact that these are real human beings. Sure, they\u2019re celebrities. But let\u2019s not forget we are asking them to talk about and remember a friend of theirs that they have feelings about. And some of those feelings, who knows what they may be, could be conflicted. So now I don\u2019t know how I\u2019m going to make another documentary without having Ryan Reynolds on speed dial so I can say, \u201cHey, can you help me out here?\u201d<\/p>\n

What did you learn as a director making this documentary that you will take with you to future projects?<\/p>\n

\n\tYou learn a little bit with every movie. Sometimes it\u2019s what\u2019s what to do, sometimes it\u2019s what not to do. I think with this film, I was able to refine and really start to have a better understanding of the focus it takes to do these interviews. They can actually be pretty exhausting at times for me. But I go to great lengths to try and make it a positive experience for the people that I\u2019m speaking with. I wanted it to feel like a conversation to them, that it was something that was actually fun or cathartic, or, you know, a healthy thing. I don\u2019t want it to be something that they may feel like uncomfortable over, so I definitely worked on that. And I\u2019m just constantly reminded about just what a team effort this is. This is definitely the biggest film that we\u2019ve done so far.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat was it like to interview often comics and actors who usually work to a script, and to have them speak without one on camera?<\/p>\n

\n\tThe thing I found kind of fascinating was I was connecting with them as human beings. Again, they\u2019re just people talking about their friend, John. But they do have an ability, each one of them, to be able to convey emotion, sadness and strength with their words. Sometimes with docs, particularly, you speaking to people that are never interviewed, ever, especially on camera. You have to take time to put people at ease. But on this doc, they understand and are open to those emotions, all actors are to a degree. They\u2019re able to convey those things and do so in a way that is succinct and lands and has resonance. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tYour next project to direct will be another documentary or scripted?<\/p>\n

\n\tSo we\u2019ve got a couple of other documentary projects we\u2019re developing right now that hopefully we\u2019ll be starting work on soon. And I\u2019m looking at various scripted narrative pictures as well. That\u2019s definitely something I\u2019m interested in doing. I\u2019m really just sort of waiting and seeing what\u2019s available, because those are rather large time commitments. And then I still wear makeup and pretend to be other people for a living.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn the acting front, you play a corrupt sheriff opposite Bob Odenkirk\u2019s mild-mannered family man\/assassin role in Nobody 2<\/a>. You enjoyed playing a bad guy after so many memorable good guy roles?<\/p>\n

Yes, Bob Odenkirk reached out and I worked with him on Fargo. We both played nice guy cops. And he said, \u201cHey, I got a bad cop. He\u2019s a dirty cop. And I really want to see you do something different.\u201d And I think Bob is paying it forward a little bit. He was always playing the nice guy. And then Better Call Saul came around. And Nobody in particular came around. So I got to go off and basically play a dirty cop and be intimidating and be frightening and it was a blast. I had so much fun with Bob. And it was a real treat being part of a big action movie.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd in Nuremberg<\/a>, you play Dr. Gustave M. Gilbert, who served as a prison psychologist during the Nuremberg<\/a> war\u00a0trials. So he\u2019s not a bad guy per se, but you\u2019re among the baddest of bad guys in Nazis.<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, what I loved about that particular role was technically, he\u2019s not a bad guy, like all of the other Nazis in the film, But he\u2019s definitely not a good guy that is making things easier. I play almost an antagonist to Rami Malik\u2019s character and really makes things a lot more difficult and doesn\u2019t necessarily see eye to eye with Rami. Although it\u2019s supporting role, there was a little bit of complexity there that I really enjoyed. And I just jumped at the opportunity, because I\u2019ve known Rami a long time, and it was a real treat to finally get to do something with him.<\/p>\n

\n\tIs the idea that bad guy characters are potentially more complex than good guy characters appealing to you as an actor?<\/p>\n

\n\tIt can be liberating. I really enjoy trying to present the bad guy\u2019s reasons or views and find a way to consider them reasonable. You know, it was the thing that I loved about playing (Barry) Lapidus in The Offer. Here\u2019s the one guy that doesn\u2019t want to make The Godfather. Everyone else is, come on, let\u2019s do it. It\u2019s going to be great. And I\u2019m the guy saying, this is a horrible idea. This is a massive mistake. And I like that I was able to be the dissenting voice but with legitimate concerns. You never want to judge a book by its cover. And I think it\u2019s fun when you\u2019re able to show that complexity on the inside of the character and what makes them tick. You have to break down what their reasoning is. You need to understand that so that you believe it. Otherwise, as a performer, it\u2019s just words and you\u2019re just phoning it in. You never want to do that.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou talk about being able to play a good cop on Fargo and a bad cop on Nobody 2<\/a>. Getting back to John Candy. He died at a young age, before he could fully branch out from comedy into more serious roles and more bad guy characters. Should John Candy fans feel cheated they have been denied that legacy?<\/p>\n

\n\tYes, because I feel he definitely would have gone in that direction. And I think he would have straddled both very well. He would have gone back and forth between the two, I really do. And that\u2019s just because of his nature and who he was, and the kind of person that he was. He wouldn\u2019t have just gone dramatic and then kept it there. But he was definitely headed there. He did that character in JFK. That an indicator he was going that way. I know for a fact he did do some screen tests and costume tests for Goodfellas. Which I thought was fascinating. I know that\u2019s got the script for Pulp Fiction. I don\u2019t know what kind of films that he would have done, just based on his beliefs and the kinds of things that he wanted to portray. But I have no doubt that he would have branched out into more dramatic fare.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The late funnyman and actor John Candy was the mascot of laughter and fun in Hollywood comedies before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71228,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[5995,859,156,5137,12570,409,111,139,56474,11738,69,16505,5138],"class_list":{"0":"post-71227","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-colin-hanks","9":"tag-documentary","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-john-candy","12":"tag-john-candy-i-like-me","13":"tag-movies","14":"tag-new-zealand","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nobody-2","17":"tag-nuremberg","18":"tag-nz","19":"tag-prime-video","20":"tag-ryan-reynolds"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}