John Candy Getting Questioned About His Weight Was ‘Unacceptable,’ Colin Hanks Says

Colin Hanks is reflecting on how interviewers treated John Candy.

During an appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, the director of the new documentary John Candy: I Like Me said the late comedian being questioned about his weight in interviews was “unacceptable.”

“It’s heartbreaking,” Hanks, 47, said. “That, particularly, was so soul-crushing to me. To see, first off, how uncomfortable John was in an interview, and it was because, deep down, he knew, ‘They’re going to ask about my weight.’ ”

“And you go, ‘Well, why is that a big deal?’ Well, when you see how people asked him about his weight, it all makes sense,” the director added.

Horowitz agreed, saying, “No wonder he didn’t want to sit in that hot seat, because he knew he was about to be taken down.”

Hanks continued to say that the questioning directed at Candy was “not acceptable” and “would not fly in this day and age.”

“That kind of stuff was just heartbreaking, and again just made me go, ‘This is the kind of stuff I want to explore (in the documentary),’ ” he added.

The new film, directed by the son of Tom Hanks and produced by Ryan Reynoldsis about “the life, career and loss of one of the most beloved actors of all time,” per a synopsis. The movie contains never-before-seen archival footage and interviews from Candy’s friends and colleagues, including Conan O’Brien, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy and Macaulay Culkin.

Candy, who died of a heart attack at age 43 in 1994, starred in several iconic comedy movies, including Stripes, Splash, Spaceballs, Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Uncle Buck. He also starred in the Canadian sketch comedy series Second City TV.

The prolific actor was married to Rosemary Hoborwith whom he shared two children, Christopher and Jennifer. All three family members also co-produced and participated in interviews for the documentary.

On Oct. 9, Christopher was part of a Q&A and screening of the documentary with Reynolds, Hank and Hugh Jackman at Kings Theater in New York City. There, he said he was “shocked” to see how interviewers asked his dad about his weight.

“I was kind of shocked to see how interviewers treat him. That was just heart-wrenching,” he said. “I could see how he got more frustrated and he found ways to deal with that.”

“I learned through the process of this that he was so nervous about eating in front of people because of the paparazzi,” Christopher shared of his late father. “He developed a poor eating habit where he’d be like, ‘Alright, well I’m not going to eat all day. I’m going to eat at night when I get home and I’m in privacy.’ When I hear stories like that, I just feel so bad for him.”

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“In those moments, as his son or as his friend, you just want to grab him by his shoulders and say, ‘Why the f— do you have to do this? Just who cares? Have a sandwich,” the son said.

“No one should feel that way,” Christopher added.

John Candy: I Like Me is available to stream now on Prime Video.