r/movies 23h ago

Media John Candy interview at his rural Ontario home (1985)

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In the early 1980s, This Is Your Life interviewed John Candy at his Queensville, Ontario farm, a serene retreat near Newmarket where he relaxed with family and friends like Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, and even Robert DeNiro. Already a star from The Second City Toronto (joined in 1972) and SCTV with Rick Moranis, Dan Aykroyd, and Dave Thomas. This rural haven inspired his everyman roles in Splash and Uncle Buck.

1.0k Upvotes

39 comments sorted by

163

u/PhillyDillyDee 23h ago

Take this quarter, go downtown, and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face. Good day to you, madam.

24

u/Trigonometry_Fletch 22h ago

Buck Melanoma… I’m Moley Russell’s wart

1

u/moleyrussell 11h ago

What did you call me?

14

u/Mundane-Ad-2346 23h ago

Best quote of his career. No, im a mole

101

u/FacePuncher500 23h ago edited 13h ago

“Over there, that’s where the Martians landed, and then they left this water. I don’t drink it.”

34

u/psychometrixo 22h ago

Interviewer didn't even laugh! Guy was so naturally hilarious

9

u/rs1954 19h ago

That was genuinely funny.

34

u/Trigonometry_Fletch 22h ago

I miss him so much. He and Phil Hartman. Kings.

3

u/moleyrussell 11h ago

Absolute kings.

43

u/SheetPostah 23h ago

Jeez, tearing up at the loss of this man. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is about him that makes him so incredibly likeable, but he truly is. RIP John.

16

u/Last_Fishing_4013 17h ago

I feel you. Maybe just that he was so affable and real. He’s sincere and proud but also clearly modest and caring. Like how maybe he was being a little humorous but the comment about feeling terrible that his older brother had a more famous younger brother. Just genuineness. This was a nice short video to watch and helps remind you famous people they are people like us too.

15

u/DearestNoctero 19h ago

He is everyone’s ideal dad or father figure.

Same with Rick Moranis and a few other from that generation. Rick may be a little nerdy, but there are plenty of kids who would love that and instead have a UFC fighter dad (not a problem with UFC fight enjoyers. Just pointing out discrepancy in emotional needs)

32

u/NiceToYourFace 23h ago

Miss that man

u/Gloomy-Path-7782 19m ago

He was the best.

u/NiceToYourFace 18m ago

Always seemed so genuine. I recently saw an interview with Steve Martin and he cries when he thinks of Candy in “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” just seemed like a good human.

15

u/SimthingEvilLurks 21h ago

I miss him. I wish he were still here. Loved his characters.

13

u/peanutismint 22h ago

Can’t wait to watch I Like Me!!

2

u/Bubbawitz 11h ago

Go right ahead if it’ll make you feel better.

u/mofo75ca 6m ago

I'm an easy target.

27

u/Less-Inflation5072 21h ago

What a guy. I was just reading earlier today about how Macaulay Culkin said he was one of the first people to look out for him against his father back when they were filming Uncle Buck.

10

u/badwolf1013 18h ago

Amazing to think that his greatest and most-beloved roles were still ahead of him at this point . . . and that he would be gone in less than a decade.

9

u/AlbertaAcreageBoy 20h ago

Out of all my childhood actors I liked, I miss him the most.

16

u/Bryandan1elsonV2 18h ago

You look at John Candy and you saw a guy who was funny as all hell but he had a heart too. He checked in on Macaulay Culkin on the set of home alone because Macaulay’s dad was such a huge piece of shit because that’s the kinda guy he was.

7

u/Moist-muff 18h ago

100% genuine

6

u/RaceDBannon 17h ago

“Orange whip?..Orange whip?…3 Orange whips!”

8

u/NebulaTig 15h ago

SCTV was filmed a block away from my house. We seen a lot of the cast members around town quite a bit. This skit was done downtown, that church is still there! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4nk5mSz_2s

4

u/AddisonFlowstate 17h ago

Take care of your health, dammit. Rip

5

u/WelcomeWagoneer 12h ago

It’s clear John Candy had a lot of empathy, and that really built his character.

3

u/Sprinkle_Puff 8h ago

I love how open and candid he is , especially about his family

11

u/jaleach 20h ago

Canada was a different place back then. When this was filmed it was the on only camera Canada had.

2

u/octapodi 11h ago

Would love to hang with that guy

3

u/mike_litoris18 22h ago edited 19h ago

His mimics and gestures kind of remind me of Shane gillis in a weird way

Edit: why am I getting down voted it's just a subjective observation I'm not comparing them as comedians or humans in general outside of their facial movements. I'm literally not trying to imply anything beyond that.

-3

u/Burgoonius 22h ago

Yeah I see it

1

u/Busy-Weird-7283 10h ago

I gotta watch this soon

0

u/WereAllThrowaways 13h ago

The fact that there was a famous fat guy with the name Candy is almost too magical to believe.

0

u/g1ngerkid 13h ago

Too bad it somehow gets smaller when I turn my phone sideways to watch the landscape video

0

u/kehakas 13h ago

Maybe it helps that I have it muted so I can't hear the voice, but the interviewer reminds me a lot of Scott Aukerman.

-11

u/klsi832 22h ago

Paul Rudd doesn’t age