John Candy was a comedy icon and countless stars of film and TV count him among their heroes. Ryan Reynolds is among those who says he had an obsession, with the actor, to the point that he even created a tribute to Candy inside Deadpool that viewers couldn’t even see.
In his appearance on Netflix’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman, Ryan Reynolds talks about being huge fans of the likes of John Candy and Steve Martin. He’s a big Planes, Trains, and Automobiles fan to be sure, and he says that often, if he’s not sure how to handle a scene, he’ll just try to channel Candy or Martin and do the scene their way. He explained…
Growing up, I had a real obsession, quite genuinely, with John Candy. And I still do. Steve Martin, a lot of the guys that came out of SNL. If I’m flummoxed in a scene or I can’t figure out a way in, I will just copy them. That sort of [Martin’s character] Neal Page, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, kind of aggressively unimpressed, kind of over-it character. I just love that, I can never get enough.
Reynolds is such a big fan of John Candy, that the actor apparently created a special prop in Deadpool as an homage to Candy’s Planes, Trains, and Automobiles character. Reynolds had a recreation of a book made that references the classic comedy, and the book, titled The Canadian Mounted, apparently appears in multiple scenes in the movie, despite the fact that audiences apparently can’t actually see it. Reynolds continued…
It’s supposed to be this non-fiction soft porn, basically. One of those sorts of trash, way sub-Danielle Steel. We’re talking nasty. He reads it in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. And I have that book. Not the exact one he’s holding but I had it remade for Deadpool. And I’m carrying it under my arm in a number of scenes. I don’t think it’s ever actually seen on camera. But it’s those little things that you try to never forget. Those people that helped grow you where you are.
Usually when we see little tributes or references in movies like this, those moments are made clear to the audience, because that’s part of the joke. Here, however, it seems that Reynolds was focused on simply making the tribute himself, and it mattered much less if anybody else was even aware of it.
So the next time you sit down to watch Deadpool, try to keep an eye out for a book under the arm of Wade Wilson. Even if you can’t see what it is, you’ll now know what the book is and why it’s there.
