Will Arnett loves Toronto, making people laugh — and when the joke is on him

Actor Will Arnett may have spent three decades south of the border, but he’ll always be a Toronto boy at heart. One way the “Arrested Development” and “BoJack Horseman” star and “SmartLess” podcast host stays connected to his hometown? By hosting Laughter is the Best Medicine, the high-profile fundraiser gala for the Michael Garron Hospital Foundation.

Over the years, the event has drawn numerous marquee comedy names like Jerry Seinfeld, Steve Martin and Chris Rock to Toronto to raise money for the community hospital. This year, the gala is celebrating a return to in-person festivities on May 13 at the Beanfield Centre with headliner John Mulaney, fresh off his new Netflix special, “Baby J.”

Arnett’s ties to the hospital run nearly as deep as his Toronto roots. His father worked with the hospital board for years, back when it was still Toronto East General. Arnett says he was eager to both continue his dad’s legacy and to help support the little guy. “When it comes to fundraising, a lot of the bigger, fancier hospitals get a lot of attention but community hospitals need it too.”

Arnett’s urge to help was instilled in him early, thanks to his grandparents.

His mom’s fatherwas instrumental in setting up the United Way in Winnipeg. “My grandparents were very gentle, kind people, and they always stressed the importance of being kind to others,” he says. “And it got pointed out to me, especially if I was being unkind, they would give me that direction of like, ‘no, no, no, it’s really important to be this way.’ That was always my beacon and my compass when it came to doing the right thing, trying to be kind and to give as much as you can.”

Arnett says the difference between his homeland adopted country have become more stark over the years.

“The responsibility to help others is such a part of who [Canadians] are culturally that I think that we inherently understand — something that is not as understood in the country that I live in now — that we’re only as strong as our weakest link,” he says. “And that we do have an obligation to give back to the very system that helped us.”

Arnett says coming to Toronto brings him a sense of calm. He spends time here with his sons, ambling through the neighbourhoods where he grew up.

“For my sons, being Canadians born abroad, it’s important for them to start to connect those dots and make those connections,” he says. “I want that connection to get deeper and deeper as they get older.”

The visits seem to be working their magic. On their last visit here a few months ago, Arnett’s oldest son turned to him and said “You know, I think I’d like to live in Toronto.”

Arnett has those thoughts from time to time himself. “It’s been a long time since I lived in Toronto full-time, over 30 years. But I do think, ‘What if I just moved back to Toronto?’ I have so many friends, I’ve had to come back for various family things, and, sadly, for funerals, and things like that, and increasingly it reminds me of how deep my roots are here.”

For now, Arnett will be happy to be here this weekend, with his family, making people laugh when they need it the most. “We live in serious times, but I think that laughter is important — we need levity to help us put things in perspective, and to have a laugh at ourselves. I think that Canadians appreciate and understand that.”

Arnett’s favourite brand of humour? When the joke is on him. (At a previous gala, for he wasn’t above throwing in a rare reprise of his “Arrested Development” chicken dance to drive up an auction bid.)

“Maybe that’s a Canadian notion, like, to keep yourself in check. And if you don’t, one of the good things about being in Canada is that there’s a line of people who will be right ready to check you the second they get a whiff of you taking yourself too seriously!”

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