I was watching a bio of John Candy on A&E in which she was interviewed. The reason she returned to movies after a 20 year absence (when she certainly didn’t need the money or the fame) was 100% because she liked him. She had turned down the role and the studio suggested countless other actresses (including Bea Arthur & Marion Ross), but he was so intent on her that he chartered a jet to the Virgin Islands to meet with her. She fell in love with him (in the non-romantic sense) and agreed to do the roll.
Trivia: English is not her first language. Her father (a football team owner) was a super patriotic Irishman who insisted on Gaelic as the household language. She continued the tradition by speaking Gaelic at home with her daughter Bronwyn (born of her second marriage, a hellish union in which she was frequently abused and which ended in a nasty custody battle; she actually said that the day that husband died was the happiest of her life, though because of her Catholic upbringing she would not remarry while he lived [her first husband was a gay film producer and the marriage was annulled without being consummated]). Her daughter and some of her grandchildren go by the surname Fitzsimons, which was her maiden name.
I’ve always liked her too. When I was a kid and watched The Parent Trap, I wanted her to be MY mom. BTW, she is the only reason I ever watched The Quiet Man. She’s great in it too.