New John Candy documentary reveals comedian’s crippling anxiety struggles

John Candy believed he was living “on borrowed time.”

On March 4, 1994, the comedy star was found dead of a heart attack while filming Wagons East! In Durango, Mexico. He was 43 years old. The late actor is now the subject of a new documentary directed by Colin Hanks and produced by Ryan Reynolds, called “John Candy: I ​​Like Me.” It features numerous interviews with those who knew and loved Candy, including Bill Murray, Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, and Catherine O’Hara. Candy’s children, Jennifer Candy and Chris Candy, serve as producers.

“The documentary highlights how he thought he was on borrowed time,” Chris, 41, told Fox News Digital.

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John Candy died on March 4, 1994. He was in Mexico filming the Western comedy “Wagons East!” When he had a heart attack while he was sleeping. He was 43 years old. (© Tristar/Courtesy Everett Collection)

“I remember Carl Reiner referring to it as kind of Damocles swinging over his head. But I think for me and Jane, looking back… [on] The work and help we gave ourselves. . . It takes a lot of growth to realize that “I can change things.” I can grow. I can thrive. I shouldn’t feel like I’m trapped. But it takes a lot of work.”

John Candy’s children told Fox News Digital that the late star tried to seek help before his death. (prime video)

“One of the main things I really appreciated and took away from this movie is that he was really trying to turn the boat around at the end of his life,” Chris said. “He was taking better care of himself. But it took a long time to do this effective work. And of course, we wish we had more of that time. But the fact that there was an effort, and the attempt was there on a real level, was, I think, the main thrust of what we wanted to uncover about our father.”

The documentary revealed this At the time of his deathIt was Candy’s crippling anxiety at its worst. He had an anxiety attack on his way to the set of “Wagons East!” But he kept it to himself. Shortly after, he died in his sleep.

The documentary “John Candy: I ​​Like Me” is now available for streaming. (prime video)

“When I heard how they found him, that he was sitting on the side of the bed, I opened the Bible “And I was reading from him before he died — I remember thinking how he was trying to find a home,” his close friend Don Lake recalls in the film.

Chris told Fox News Digital that his father quietly struggled with his increasing anxiety in his final years.

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“He never talked about it, but we knew it was happening,” Chris said. “The anxiety manifested itself strongly in him. … He and my mother went to see a couples therapist, and then they went to their own therapy. And then it was like the kids needed to go into this therapy. But this was part of self-care, like going to the doctor. There are so many different methodologies to that kind of work.”

John Candy is seen here in Los Angeles, circa 1990. In the documentary, “John Candy: I ​​Like Me,” friends described how the star suffered from severe anxiety during his final years. (Steve Shapiro/Corbis via Getty Images)

“But I also have to say, it doesn’t have to be a cure,” he added. “It’s just the concept of being open. He can be your best friend. He can be your partner. That’s another thing we wanted to get across. Jennifer and I started early, and fortunately we did because I think that helped us become who we are now.”

Candy was haunted by a painful past. He was five years old when his father, Sidney Candy, died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 35, days before the actor’s birthday. The film indicated that there is Family history of heart disease.

Shown here is young John Candy with his father and brother. (prime video)

While Candy turned to performing to cope with the loss, the thought of death never left him. The film revealed this When his friend John Belushi Candy died of a drug overdose in 1982 at the age of 33, and Candy was clearly shaken and frightened.

John Belushi died on March 5, 1982 in Los Angeles. He was 33 years old. (Richard E. Aaron/Redferns/Getty Images)

As his fame increased, so did the scrutiny surrounding his weight. Jennifer, 45, told Fox News Digital that the film also aims to show her father’s journey toward self-acceptance.

“Like Dale Griffith, he knows he’s imperfect,” she added, referring to her father’s character in the 1987 movie “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.”

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Steve Martin and John Candy sit in a battered car in a scene from the movie “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” circa 1987. (Paramount/Getty Images)

From left: Jennifer Candy, Rosemary Candy and Christopher Candy attend the Los Angeles private screening of Amazon MGM Studios’ “John Candy: I ​​Like Me” at The Montalban on October 2, 2025. (Emma McIntyre/WireImage/Getty Images)

During production, Chris said, he became an investigator into his father’s life story. He was eight years old when the patriarch died.

“I think the most surprising thing…is realizing the connective tissue between my father and me,” he said. “This idea of ​​genes and inheritance and psychological genetics and how there were so many things he was wrestling with, and how many things or behaviors I felt on a daily basis that I didn’t know he felt.”

Jennifer Candy was 13 years old when her father died. Her younger brother, Chris Candy, was eight years old. (prime video)

“We joke about it, but I’ve been known to be 15 minutes late for things, or just not being on time,” he said with a laugh. “He had the same trait in his 20s and 30s. His friends used to call him ‘No Show.’ My friends called it ‘Candy Time.’ It’s a little thing, but he wasn’t there to teach me to be more casual as time went on. It was moments like that where I said, ‘Oh my God, we have a lot in common.’ And he wasn’t there to tell me to be that way.”

John Candy has been described as a devoted family man who did not like to be away from his wife and children for long. (prime video)

In the documentary, Candy is portrayed as a gentle giant – a hardworking, devoted family man who prioritizes the needs of others over his own. Friends wondered if Candy knew his time would be short.

“I seem to remember him saying, ‘I don’t know if I’ll ever make it past 35,'” Eugene Levy said in the film.

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“SCTV” actor John Candy is seen here getting his makeup done. The Canadian comedy series aired from 1976 to 1984. (Michael Stobarek/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Jennifer said she wasn’t surprised that Kandi was considered Hollywood’s nice guy.

“I think that has a lot to do with his upbringing and his family,” she explained. “The people he surrounded me with were very important as well. And be CanadianPeople joke about that.

John Candy is survived by his two children. (prime video)

“My dad’s family growing up had their faults, but they were also, at their core, good people. They cared for each other and watched each other’s backs. Those core values ​​stuck with our dad. He and my mom had very similar values. My mom also kept him grounded. And I think the way you treat people, that’s really important. That’s how you’ll move forward in life.”

John Candy was seen at the 35th Annual Emmy Awards on September 25, 1983, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena. (Ron Galella Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

While Candy later struggled with his mental health, his friends were concerned about his deteriorating physical health. Kandi was self-conscious about his weight, which was reportedly over 300 pounds at one point. His widow, Rosemary Candy, described in the film how he tried to lose weight, but Hollywood executives asked him to gain weight for roles. She was concerned about how stressful the stressful Hollywood schedule was She was affecting her husband’s heart.

Bales admitted that Candy often resisted advice. He was still trying to get over the smoking, drinking and overeating.

John Candy, seen here in 1990, was sensitive to comments made about his weight. (Darlene Hammond/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

“I remember John passing doctors like cigarettes,” his friend Dave Thomas said in the film. “The doctor will tell him: ‘You have to lose weight, you have to stop drinking.’ “John didn’t want to hear that.”

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His friend and co-star John Candy holds Tom Hanks in a scene in the TriStar Pictures movie “Volunteers” circa 1984. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Not only did Kandy’s kids shed sad tears while filming this movie, but there were a lot of happy tears as well. For them, they had a short life, but they lived it well.

Even Murray, 75, admitted: “I wish I had more bad things to say about him, but that’s the problem when you talk about John. He was good with people.”

During John Candy’s funeral, Interstate 405 was closed in his honor. (Patty Gower/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

One of Jennifer’s favorite moments was learning how Kandi had a night out with Jack Nicholson and then filmed a tennis scene at The movie “Splash” in 1984 While he was hungry.

John Candy rose to fame after starring in the 1984 film “Splash.” (everett)

“You can see in the film how he survived this disaster, not well,” she laughed. “And the fact that our father said it only took three times for him to get hit in the head with a racquetball. Did he learn his lesson? Yes. But if we were asked to party with Jack Nicholson, we’d probably say yes.”

“John Candy: I ​​Like Me” will premiere on October 10 on Prime Video.