Steve Martin got emotional while reminiscing about his time with the late John Candy, who starred alongside him in 1987’s Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Steve said his old friend “was very sensitive and very complex” during an interview for STEVE! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces.
The two-part docuseries by Oscar winner Morgan Neville, which premiered on Apple+, gives a wholesome look into Steve’s life and career as a comedian and actor. “We really loved each other,” Steve said tearfully of his deceased colleague.
Steve Martin recalls beautiful scene with John Candy in ‘Planes, Trains And Automobiles’
In the newly released documentary, Steve showed off some items in his home, including scripts written by director John Hughes for the hit comedy movie, Planes, Trains and Automobiles. “He had a beautiful scene,” Steve said of Candy, whose character “gives the entire explanation of his life.” “I’m not gonna read the speech, but it’s that long.”
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Steve added that he was “weeping as Candy was performing” the speech as he flipped through and held it up to the camera. “I was opposite him,” he quipped. However, Steve recalled how most of the speech was cut for reasons unknown to him. “Except for tempo, and maybe you’re at the end, and you don’t want to hear a long speech. It was cut down to a line or two,” he explained.
The 78-year-old star fought back tears as he put the script back on the shelf and went on to reveal his favorite line from it. “There’s a line I loved— ‘I sort of attach myself to people from time to time, like with you, especially around the holidays. I can take it in March, July, October. But it gets hard,’” he noted. “And then he said, ‘This time, I couldn’t let it go.’”
The documentary also features interviews with Tina Fey, Eric Idle, Jerry Seinfeld, Frank Oz, Diane Keaton, and Steve’s longtime comedy partner, Martin Short. After reflecting on emotional moments with Candy, Steve considered his creative effort over the years, saying, “You pour your heart into these movies…then two years later, it’s just another title on the video shelf, you know?”