Ryan Reynolds says his two-year-old helped convince Bill Murray to do John Candy doc

Director Colin Hanks and producer Ryan Reynolds speak with George Stroumboulopoulos at a press conference for the film John Candy: I Like Me, prior to the film’s premiere, at the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey

TORONTO — Ryan Reynolds says it was not easy to track down Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd for his documentary about the late Canadian comic John Candy.

The “Deadpool” star is a producer on “John Candy: I Like Me,” which opens the Toronto International Film Festival and features a multitude of famous faces lauding the affable Candy for his onscreen prowess and off-screen kindness.

Among them are “Splash” star Tom Hanks, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” co-star Steve Martin and “SCTV”'s Martin Short and Catherine O’Hara.

Hours before the world premiere, Reynolds told a press conference that securing Murray and Aykroyd took the most effort, noting both are famously difficult to nail down for projects.

“Nobody said no, but Bill Murray is not easy,” noted Reynolds, who sat alongside director Colin Hanks and Candy’s daughter and son, Jennifer and Chris Candy.

“My kid got him, I think, in the end. I sent (Murray) a desperate plea. You know it’s desperate when you switch to video for a message – I’m like: ‘Bill, I’m running out of time. You know, existentially, because death will find me someday but, I’m also running out of time on this doc,’” the “Deadpool” star said to chuckles from assembled media.

“And my kid woke up, my two-year-old son woke up at, like, 11:30 at night to show me his jingle bells shirt and then I’m just (telling my son) ‘I’m in the middle of it, I’m trying to send a video to Bill. Tell Bill to do the interview.’ And he went: ‘Do the interview Bill,’ all angry like. And I said, ‘Would you say no to a child like that? I don’t know what kind of monster you are,’” Reynolds said to laughter.

“And the next thing I know, he was doing it. And I promised that the child would not attend and he would be neutralized.”

The documentary includes home videos, news footage and interviews with his widow, Rose Candy.

Reynolds also dropped an uncanny impression of Aykroyd while recounting the challenge of bringing the former “SNL” star onboard, noting it took months to track him down for the film.

“I finally get a hold of him and he goes, ‘I’ll tell you what kid, you’re going to fly up here, you’re going to have dinner with me, spend the night, next morning we’ll do the interview, and you get ... out,’” Reynolds said to chuckles.

“And it was one of the best nights of my life. I was in this home and he picked us up at the airport in his 1994, Lincoln Town Car. I think he stole it from ‘Grosse Pointe Blank,’ one of my favourite movies, and drove us to his place out in the woods out there in Ontario.”

“John Candy: I Like Me” hits Prime Video on Oct. 10.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2025.

Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press