Carney, Canadian actors honor hometown comedy legend John Candy at TIFF

By Nivedita Balu

TORONTO (Reuters) -At a time of heightened patriotism in Canada, the Toronto International Film Festival kicked off its 50th edition with a documentary honoring Canadian comedian John Candy.

The world premiere of “John Candy: I Like Me” on Thursday evening had the audience, including Prime Minister Mark Carney, rolling with laughter remembering the comedy legend’s classic characters and pulling out tissues as they learned about the actor’s struggles with stardom.

Candy is known for classic performances on the comedy-variety show “Second City Television” as well as Hollywood blockbusters such as “Splash,” “Stripes” and “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.”

TIFF opens at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump‘s tariffs and threats to annex Canada have encouraged Canadians to support home-grown businesses and films, travel locally and shun U.S.-made products.

“In Canada, our sovereignty our identity, has come under threat, and when Canadians heard those threats, they channeled their inner John Candy, stood up, elbows up, wrote our own lines. … We have our own plans,” Carney said before the premiere.

“Don’t push a Canadian too far,” he told the crowd, drawing applause and cheers as he reminisced about watching some of his favorite characters Candy portrayed, including his first personal political idol – the mayor of Melonville on “SCTV,” he joked.

Directed by Colin Hanks and produced by Canadian Ryan Reynolds, the documentary brings to life Candy’s classic characters and his work through archival materials and testimonials from family and friends including Canadian co-stars Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy. Other Candy co-stars such as Colin Hanks’ father Tom, Bill Murray and Macaulay Culkin also share stories.

The documentary also draws attention to fatphobia and anxiety disorder, issues that shadowed Candy’s life and career. The Ontario native died of a heart attack in 1994 at age 43 .

“It turns out that the very things that he struggled with were the same things that we all struggle with. And so that sense of him being that everyman, I don’t think people understand just how accurate that was,” Hanks said. He walked with producer Reynolds, who wore a Canada T-shirt and blazer embroidered with the coordinates of Newmarket, Ontario, Candy’s hometown.

The documentary will stream on Prime Video in October.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Toronto; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Mark Porter)