7 celebrities who have given Edmonton a shoutout over the years

It’s not every day that celebrities pass through Edmonton, and it’s even more rare when they give the city a shoutout.

From comedians to musicians and actors, here are a few celebs who have given YEG some love over the years.

John Candy

@feelgoodtoks John candy talking about Edmonton with David Letterman. #johncandy #davidletterman #fyp #yeg #edmonton ♬ original sound – Follow for more😂

Late great Canadian comedian John Candy discussed filming a TV show in Edmonton while on Late Night with David Letterman in 1982. Smoking cigarettes on set, Candy and co-star Joe Flaherty spoke about filming in the city, to which Letterman snickered.

“The city takes a bad rap, but you know, it’s a real nice city, and there’s good people there. Everyone was working real hard on the show,” Candy noted.

Theo Von

Comedian Theo Von gives his opinion on Edmonton pic.twitter.com/P6WkGzeSpm

— YEGWAVE (@yegwave) November 11, 2023

Comedian Theo Von brought up Edmonton on a recent podcast, making note of the city’s northern location and apparent desire to be a “big city.”

“There’s always sirens going on, like, firetrucks go by, and police. But nothing’s going on – I think they just hire all these sirens to go off,” he joked.

Nickelback

When visiting Edmonton for the 2023 Juno Awards in the city earlier this month, Chad Kroeger and bandmate and guitarist Ryan Peake gushed about one Edmonton restaurant in particular.

“For Edmonton, it’s the Burger Baron. Mushroom bacon cheeseburger at the Burger Baron on, I think it’s on 118th, it’s just down the street from the old arena. I would never ever come to Edmonton without stopping at the Burger Baron.”

“Look how excited he is right now,” bandmate Peake quipped when Kroeger was asked the question.

Pedro Pascal

Pedro Pascal was famously all over Alberta for filming HBO’s The Last of Us, and he made mention of Edmonton and the northern lights while driving up from Calgary one evening.

“It was full Spielberg, like green across the whole… it was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen,” said Pascal on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

Bill Burr

On Bill Burr’s Monday Morning Podcast following his outdoor show in Edmonton earlier this summer, the comedian spent several minutes talking about Edmonton, the crowd, and the wildfire smoke that hung over the city. Despite the smoke, Burr claimed the YEG show was “one of the best crowds” he’s ever performed to and that he had a great time despite the air quality.

“They were sitting there, they were listening, they were laughing – it boggled my mind how great it was. Ten times during the time I was up there, I was thinking, ‘How is this so good?!’ Everything is working against what is happening right now, yet it is all working; it was fantastic.”

Simu Liu

@simuliu/instagram

Simu Liu treated the staff of an Edmonton restaurant earlier this year, making a surprise stop at Hanjan while in the city for the Junos. He gave a hilarious shoutout to the restaurant on Instagram after staff invited him for a meal.

Nathan Fillion

Edmonton-born actor Nathan Fillion sat down for a chat with Lauren Hunter of Sonic 102.9 after Edmonton City Hall was temporarily renamed the Nathan Fillion Civilian Pavilion following a petition that gained 27,000 signatures. During the conversation, he spoke about growing up in the city and his eventual leap into the acting world.

“Picture this: a young Nathan Fillion, about eight years old, third grade, running from Saint Hilda in Millwoods, down Millwoods road to his home, trying to make it home on his short little legs so that he could watch reruns of Gilligan’s Island because that was the only window into a place that wasn’t a winter tundra.”