The story behind Ryan Reynolds’ suit at the John Candy documentary premiere at TIFF

Ryan Reynolds attends the premiere of "John Candy: I Like Me" during the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto.

The suit Ryan Reynolds wore to the premiere of the John Candy documentary might possibly be more Canadian than a Canadian tuxedo.

The Vancouver-born actor hit the red carpet at the 50th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Thursday night, appearing for “John Candy: I Like Me,” a documentary he helped produce. The film pays tribute to the late Canadian actor’s life, from his esteemed accolades to his private struggles, and featuring testimonies from colleagues like Dan Akroyd, Bill Murray and Catherine O’Hara.

Reynolds sported a chestnut brown corduroy suit with a heather grey T-shirt donning a maple leaf for the world premiere—which was not initially part of his plan, the “Deadpool” star shared.

The outfit Reynolds was going to wear to the red carpet did not make it in time, so he contacted Judy Carter for some last-minute help. Carter is a jeweller and textile artist, who owns l’eau Muskoka, a boutique in Port Carling, Ont.

Carter tells CTV News Toronto she first met Reynolds’ wife, “Gossip Girl” star Blake Lively, in August, when she visited her store and bought some shirts for her husband. About a week later, Reynolds stopped by and said he had a “special project” for her.

“I was like, ‘Judy, my suit didn’t make it,’” Reynolds told CP24’s Jee-Yun Lee on Thursday night. “She made this happen.”

Carter explained he shipped one of his Brunello Cuccinelli suits for her to rework, recounting how Reynolds wanted to recreate a suit he previously wore as opposed to wearing something brand new.

“We were Canadians collaborating, it was amazing,” Carter said.

The suit paid homage to the 1987 John Hughes-directed comedy, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” a box-office hit Candy starred in alongside Steve Martin.

“I put in every movie (reference). I usually am holding ‘The Canadian Mounted’ from ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’ somewhere in the movie,” Reynolds said, as he showed off the inner-right pocket of his suit jacket. Candy read that book in the movie and Reynolds also held that book in “Deadpool 2.”

A hand painted portrait of Candy is sewn inside the left-side of the jacket, while three icons—a plane, a train and an automobile—are stitched above the breast pocket. In place of the Brunello Cucinelli tag, Carter said she was asked to replace it with something more on theme.

“Inside, they say ‘Del Griffith.’ He had me put For and Del Griffith on and the date of the release of the movie in 1987. So, we did that, like there was little, tiny things that we tweaked,” Carter said.

That is, except for a hand-stitched piece on the back of the suit.

“On the back, I got his coordinates from Newmarket, Ontario,” Reynolds said, before he spun around to reveal a deep red silk velvet heart that was hand-stitched alongside a maple leaf. The York Region town was Candy’s hometown.

While Candy’s documentary premiered at TIFF Thursday night, the film releases globally on Prime Video on Oct. 10.