We all remember John Candy as one of the most lovable comedians to have ever stepped in front of the screen. So rare were his dramatic performances that many might be hard-pressed to name any (he really only dipped his toe through JFK and Only the Lonely). But if Stephen King had gotten his way, Candy would have starred in Thinner, which is about a man who gets a curse placed upon him that causes him to lose weight at a deadly rate.
As noted on the commentary track of Shout! Factory’s upcoming Blu-ray release of Thinner (via CinemaBlend), producer Mitchell Galin revealed that King had the idea to cast Candy as Billy Halleck. However, there might have been an ulterior motive, but, jokingly, King pitched it. “We did reach out to [John] Candy’s people. Steve’s comment was like, ‘We’ll pay him a nice chunk of money, and we’ll save his life.’ (laughs) And for whatever reason – Candy was either busy, or he didn’t spark to [the material]… I really have no idea.” The role would end up going to Robert John Burke. Galin added, “The fact is he didn’t spark to the material or didn’t want to do it; whatever the reason, you respect it…So, we did reach out to him, we didn’t get positive feedback…”
As it stands, Thinner is one of the worst-received adaptations of any Stephen King work. That it came out soon after two of the best – The Shawshank Redemption and Dolores Claiborne, admittedly dramatic works and not horror – might be worth mentioning. But there’s also a definite silly factor to it, with the plot essentially boiling down to some well-intentioned roadhead leading to a hex from one vengeful gypsy (hey, you don’t make it into our Awfully Good series for nothing!).
John Candy would pass away in 1994, two years before Thinner came out. A documentary on the life and career of the actor is in the works.
Do you wish John Candy would have done more dramatic work? How would he have done in Stephen King’s Thinner? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.