By all accounts, John Candy was one of the funniest, sweetest and most genuine people to ever walk the Earth. However, like his famous Del Griffith character from the iconic ‘80s movie Planes, Trains & Automobiles, his kindhearted and fun-loving personality could rub some the wrong way, especially if a wild story from Bill Murray is to be believed.
In Colin Hanks’ documentary, John Candy: I Like Me, which was one of the best and most impactful of 2025, Murray told a hilarious story about the time his Stripes co-star drove Hollywood Legend Sydney Pollack. It wasn’t that Candy was being problematic or a jerk on set that drove the iconic director mad, but instead because he was “milking it,” as Murray put it:
Candy had a scene where he was in the bathroom, you know, talking from inside, and he milked it so bad. The timing was beyond [about a six-second pause] comprehension. You couldn't believe it. I'm watching Sydney Pollock, who's going out of his mind, because John is just milking it, milking it, milking it. Just having his own kind of fun. And I'm laughing, 'cause I know Sydney's gonna kill him.
So was it a situation where John Candy simply sucked or wasn’t doing what was asked of him? No, not really. As the Saturday Night Live legend continued after being asked by the interviewer, who sounds a lot like producer Ryan Reynolds, Murray simply said he was just milking it. However, he did admit that the stunt was “shamefully irresponsible,” saying:
It was just that it was shamefully irresponsible to the idea that there might be another actor in the scene or in the whole play.
Though Murray didn’t reveal the play’s title (I can’t find any record of it), it sounded like it had some star power involved. Written by SNL scribe Marilyn Suzanne Miller and directed by the aforementioned Pollack, it was going to star massive actors like Ray Liotta, Kevin Kline and “a handful of others” alongside the two comedians. That said, it’s easy to see why there was a lot of pressure to get it right.
Earlier in the documentary, Bill Murray talked about the importance of finding that balance between having fun and doing the best you can while paying tribute to his late friend and co-star:
As kind as John was to people that he was only gonna be with for a minute, when you're working, you have to be professional. ... He had a lot of experience. He made a bunch of movies, certainly learned how to work on the stage. And that's how it was at a scene. You couldn't let someone give you, like, an ordinary slapdash thing. You go, ‘No, no, come on, this is real now.’ We've got to give. You know, you have to commit to doing the best you can.
Simply put, John Candy committed to doing the best he could throughout his life, both as an actor and a human being. On top of that hilarious story from Bill Murray, the celeb-filled documentary is full of others about Candy being a great actor with incredible chemistry with his co-stars, and also a genuinely supportive person who would do anything for them.
If you haven’t already, go check out John Candy: I Like Me, which is streaming with an Amazon subscription. Heads up, it’s an emotional experience like no other.
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