Tom Hanks Recalls John Candy Showing Up Hungover After Drinking With Jack Nicholson Before ‘Splash’ Scene

John Candy may have taken a racquetball to the head in Splash — but according to Tom Hanks, his late costar was already nursing a pounding one before cameras even rolled.

In the upcoming documentary John Candy: I Like Me — which world-premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival — Hanks looks back on filming Ron Howard’s 1984 rom-com alongside Candy, revealing that a boozy night with Jack Nicholson left the comedy legend hilariously worse for wear.

Before shooting Splash’s infamous racquetball scene, Hanks says he loved improvising with Candy because it felt “additive and inclusive” to his own acting chops. But on that particular day, the Uncle Buck star’s dedication came with a hangover twist.

“John comes in, and he’s just wiped,” Hanks recalls in the documentary, laughing as he remembers the day. “He was out drinking somewhere, and lo and behold, Jack Nicholson came in. Maybe they met for the first time right there, but they drank.”

Candy’s son, Christopher Candy, chimes in with the perfect follow-up: “If Jack Nicholson called me into a bar and kept me up all night drinking? I would do it!”

Hanks goes on to explain that his friend arrived on set “probably with maybe only an hour and a half of sleep,” but still “fueled by an evening with Jack Nicholson.” And somehow, that exhaustion became part of the performance. “We had to do a very physical thing, you know?” he says. “Everybody is laughing on one thing, and John is utilizing his exhaustion to a degree that works for my [onscreen] brother.”

The documentary also includes vintage footage of Candy promoting Splash, where he laughs off the moment he gets hit in the head with a racquetball. When asked how many takes it took to nail the gag, Candy grins and says, “You’re not going to believe this, but, three!”

Candy, who went on to star in Planes, Trains & Automobiles, The Great Outdoors, and Uncle Buck, died of a heart attack in 1994 at just 43 years old.

John Candy: I Like Me celebrates his life and legacy through interviews with his family — including his wife, daughter, and son Christopher — as well as a star-studded roster of collaborators like Macaulay Culkin, Bill Murray, Catherine O’Hara, Dan Aykroyd, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, and Spaceballs director Mel Brooks.

The documentary premiered October 10 on Amazon Prime Video.