Ryan Reynolds on John Candy’s prideful vulnerability
Ryan Reynolds reflects on John Candy’s mix of pride and vulnerability in “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” The actor produces “John Candy: I Like Me.”
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TORONTO – In Ryan Reynolds‘ mind, there’s no bad John Candy movie. And he would know – Reynolds has been a lifelong fan of that fellow Canadian, and produced the new documentary “John Candy: I Like Me.”
One role, though, hits Reynolds unlike all others: Del Griffith, the salesman who gives marketing man Neal Page (Steve Martin) fits when they become accidental travel buddies in John Hughes’ 1987 road-trip comedy “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.”
“It’s the mix of vulnerability and pride in that performance. He’s prideful, that man. It’s not a typical color to play in a comedy like that, but it works so perfectly in concert with Steve’s exasperation,” Reynolds says. “Neal just wants to get home. And we all relate to that, right? And Del just wants to talk. Just wants to be with someone. That’s the one for me, just galvanized him in my mind.”
Making “I Like Me” (streaming Oct. 10 on Prime Video), Reynolds and “I Like Me” director Colin Hanks even discovered a missing scene from the end of the movie with Del and Neal at the train station. “It’s beautiful, (but) I get why they cut it out,” Reynolds says. “John Hughes’ son found that in the Paramount locker, which I’m so happy to have.”
Hours before premiering “I Like Me” at Toronto Film Festival, Reynolds and Hanks discuss the late comedian at The Second City, where Candy did sketch comedy alongside Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara and Harold Ramis. The documentary chronicles Candy’s life and works, giving new context to some of his most famous roles, but also digs into the complexities of a man forever changed by the loss of his father when he was 5 years old.
Hanks met Candy, who died in 1994 at age 43, on the set of his dad Tom’s 1984 film “Splash.” The filmmaker’s favorite Candy role was in the 1990 holiday movie “Home Alone” as Gus Polinski, a good-hearted polka guy who assists stressed-out mom Kate (O’Hara).
“His performance in that is so funny and so quick-witted, just the turns that he makes: ‘Chicago?’ ‘No, Sheboygan,’ ” Colin Hanks says. “He’s so quick that you’re waiting: What is the next thing that is going to come out of his mouth? And there’s just such a command there.”
Reynolds is also a fan of watching Candy and O’Hara play off each other: “Most people who don’t improv, there’s a mild panic happening when the other person is just going. And Catherine O’Hara is like a freaking fighter pilot, just sitting there waiting and just ready to contribute whenever it is at the moment. So much fun to watch.”
Tom Hanks and O’Hara are among the many people interviewed for “I Like Me.” Candy’s children, son Chris and daughter Jennifer – who are co-executive producers – talk a lot about their dad. The movie also features many of Candy’s contemporaries and co-stars like Steve Martin, Martin Short and Macaulay Culkin.
Colin Hanks did the vast majority of the interviews, but Reynolds took on Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray. “Those were huge for me,” Reynolds says. “Dan was elusive as hell. So was Bill − very hard to get. You could do a documentary just trying to get them.”
Reynolds finally tracked Aykroyd down and the “Ghostbusters” star gave him an unexpected response: “He said, ‘I’ll tell you what, kid. You come up here, you get to my place, we’ll have dinner. You spend the night, the next morning we’ll do the interview and then you (expletive) off, kid.’ I was like, ‘Sounds great!’
“Never meet your heroes? Meet your heroes sometimes.”