John Candy refused to take his shirt off for movie's mud wrestling scene: 'He didn’t enjoy that,'...

In a new documentary, Murray and Tom Hanks reflect on their late friend's disdain for media attention surrounding his body. John Candy refused to take his shirt

In a new documentary, Murray and Tom Hanks reflect on their late friend's disdain for media attention surrounding his body.

John Candy refused to take his shirt off for movie's mud wrestling scene: 'He didn't enjoy that,' Bill Murray says

In a new documentary, Murray and Tom Hanks reflect on their late friend's disdain for media attention surrounding his body.

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September 9, 2025 10:07 p.m. ET

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John Candy in the mud wrestling scene from 'Stripes'. Credit:

Courtesy Everett Collection

- The *John Candy: I Like Me* documentary includes a portion on the late star's feelings about body shaming.

- *Splash* actor Tom Hanks recalls Candy's reaction to the media fixating on his body.

- *Stripes* costar Bill Murray says Candy "didn't enjoy" a scene where he had to mud wrestle.

John Candy's family and friends reflect on his comedic legacy in the new documentary *John Candy: I Like Me*, but the film also includes an emotional segment shedding light on a more difficult period of the icon's time in the spotlight.

Around halfway through the Colin Hanks-directed, Ryan Reynolds-produced film, which world-premiered Sept. 4 at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, the project shifts to focus on media scrutiny regarding Candy's body.

"Tell me, inside John Candy, is there really a 'lean, mean fighting machine,' dying to get out?" one journalist asks Candy, quoting one of his lines from Ivan Reitman's 1981 movie *Stripes*, in an archival interview clip included in the documentary. "No, there isn't," Candy responds. "I'm quite happy the way I am."

Bill Murray and Warren Oates in the 1981 movie 'Stripes'.

Columbia Pictures/Getty

The journalist continues, telling Candy, "You're very handsome. But, I wondered if you did indeed become a leading man, svelte-look guy...don't you think everyone loves a fat man?" to which the actor responds, "Um, I guess. I don't know. They're harmless. I'm not sure. If I lost a lot of weight, I don't think it would affect me that much."

Tom Hanks, who starred with Candy in *Splash*, then says in an interview for the documentary, "To say that John hated that? John just wouldn't accept it, and I think that's a different version of saying 'hated' it. There was no self-loathing in John. There was just another degree of artistic purity."

Another vintage interview clip shows Candy saying that "it hurts sometimes" and that "people treat you differently" with regard to body size in the entertainment industry.

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"He was very upset about *Stripes*, the scene that he had in the mud," his friend and former collaborator, Andrew Alexander, says in the documentary.

The film then shows footage from *Stripes*, from a scene that sees his character enter a mud wrestling match with a group of young women.

"I was the emcee in the wrestling match, which he did not want to do," adds Dave Thomas, another of Candy's former friends and fellow entertainers. "It was like, John take off your shirt and roll around in the mud with a bunch strippers. John wore a long-sleeve T-shirt top, because he wouldn't go completely bare-chested."

Bill Murray, who also starred in *Stripes* with Candy, also recalled his friend having an issue with the scene.

Bill Murray and John Candy in Ivan Reitman's 'Stripes' movie.

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

"The women got into it. They were all fit. They started pulling his ears and stuff. People would take a little advantage because they'd think you could do what you want to hurt him," Murray remembered. "[They'd think that] he's so big, I couldn't possibly hurt him. He didn't like that, he didn't enjoy that. I understood that."

In an interview with* * at TIFF, Candy's son, Christopher Candy, remembers his dad as being protective of younger entertainers in Hollywood — particularly Macaulay Culkin, Candy's* Uncle Buck* costar who also praises Candy in the film for looking out for him during a tumultuous behind-the-scenes relationship with his own father.

"We had heard stories that [Culkin] had a tough situation and knew that, but I didn't really kind of get that that's what he was getting at [in the documentary]," Christopher tells EW. "And it really hits as I watch the movie now, that he really appreciated our dad kind of looking out for him, and that is a really sweet thing to see."

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The film also features interviews with many more of Candy's former friends and colleagues, including Steve Martin, Catherine O'Hara, Dan Aykroyd, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, and S*paceballs *director Mel Brooks.

*John Candy: I Like Me* debuts Oct. 10 on Amazon Prime Video.

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Source: "AOL Movies"

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