It’s Pee-wee Herman As You’ve Never Imagined Him in New HBO Documentary
After interviewing his subject for more than 40 hours, director Matt Wolf may know more about Paul Reubens than the actor/comedian more widely known as Pee-wee Herman knew about himself.
During a preview screening event at the Museum of Modern Art in New York for the first episode of the new HBO original documentary, Pee-wee as Himself, Wolf confessed the hard realization, however, that he did not know during the production that Reubens was dying of cancer.
Wolf got word on July 31, 2023 that the subject of his then-unfinished documentary was dead at the age of 70.
Although Reubens never spoke of death or discussed the cancer diagnosis he had received in 2017, his legacy was clearly on his mind as he engaged in those countless hours of in-depth interviewing on camera.
In a Q&A after the screening, Wolf told interviewer Lena Dunham that Reubens was one of the funniest and smartest people he’d ever met – and one of the most difficult and resistant to opening up about his true self.
The documentary is chronological and goes into great detail about Reuben’s childhood and family life with his sister, who is also interviewed, and two parents who were always supportive of his creative endeavors as a child.
He grew up not far from the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus headquarters in Florida, which had a huge impact on him as he saw how people could disappear into characters they played for a crowd.
Reubens’ countless fans worldwide will greatly appreciate the depth and the detail of his blossoming creativity honed during junior high and high school, in college and then with the well-known Los Angeles-based improv troupe The Groundlings.
The thread through it all, much to everyone’s surprise, may be the revelation that more than anything, Reubens wanted to be famous, and to that end, he sacrificed a very important personal relationship that he had kept secret because he also felt that revealing his queerness would hinder his quest for fame.
It was an issue that also brought tension between him and the filmmaker, who is also gay. At first, Wolf said Reubens became “squirmy and procrastinating” when asked to talk about his sexuality, which he had never done publicly, and admitted he “didn’t know how to do it.”
Wolf gave him a simple instruction: “Just say, I’m gay.” And once the cameras started rolling and Wolf asked him point blank, “Are you gay?” Reubens began discussing his sexuality freely.
Much of the documentary (at least in the first part, which runs about one hour and 45 minutes) naturally focuses on Pee-wee Herman as a character meant to exist both in the real world and in show business.
Archival interviews including with a very young David Letterman reveal Reubens being interviewed first as himself and then switching over to the Pee-wee persona from thenceforth.
Pee-wee as Himself is now streaming on HBO Max.
