Documentary celebrating Toronto comedian John Candy kicks off TIFF 2025

It took director Colin Hanks and co-executive producer Chris Candy — John Candy’s son — several years to collect interviews with John’s family, friends and colleagues for this documentary.

CHCH News caught up with one of them: John’s Second City Television (SCTV) co-star and St. Catharines native Dave Thomas, ahead of the documentary’s premiere Thursday.

It’s the famous line from 1987’s Trains, Planes and Automobiles that gave Hanks’s new documentary its title.

John Candy: I Like Me follows the life and career of the late Canadian comedian, more than 30 years after his death.

“He had this big, lovable chubby face that everybody adored,” said Thomas, “and he made everyone feel comfortable right away.”

John’s career started in the 70s on SCTV alongside his friend Thomas, whom he met in 1972 when he joined The Second City Stage Troop in Toronto.

From there, he and Thomas put SCTV “on the air.”

“Half the work was done when I walked out on the scene with John, because the audience already loved him,” said Thomas. “All we had to do was not screw it up from that point forward.”

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Thomas describes his friend as playful, and says he kept comedy silly and fun for everyone involved.

Including one SCTV sketch where Candy played a judge — Thomas recalled John stealing a clamp used to hang lights on set, to keep a scene interesting.

“He tucked it under his judge’s robe, so that it was just protruding forward as one of his hands, so he had a clamp hand,” Thomas said while laughing. “And I remember walking over to him and saying ‘John…’ and he said ‘just let me do this, just let me do this’.”

John was a Toronto native, and made waves in Hollywood not long after, with scene-stealing roles in Home Alone, Uncle Buck and many more.

While John is often referred to as being exceptionally kind on set, that’s not what Thomas thinks his friend wants to be remembered by.

“Yes, he was, but you know, I don’t think he would have thought of that as an attribute that he should be proud of — I think he thought of that as the place that you should start in a human relationship,” said Thomas.

“I think his legacy is that it’s been 30 years and we’re still talking about him.”

John Candy: I Like Me makes its world premiere as the opening night gala at the 50th Annual Toronto International Film Festival.

It will also be available for streaming on Prime Video Oct. 10.

WATCH MORE: John Candy being remembered on the 30th anniversary of his death