Beloved funnyman Paul "Pee-wee Herman" Reubens passed away in 2023, and at the time, the news came as a big surprise to fans. Reubens had been privately living with cancer, keeping his diagnosis a secret, and it wasn't until his passing when the truth was revealed.
Reubens loved to entertain, but he had always kept private about the details of his personal life. Shortly before his death, however, Reubens finally opened up in a series of interviews he was doing for a new documentary. While Reubens died before the doc could be completed, it has now just been released, finally allowing fans to see another side of Reubens they'd never seen before. The doc, Pee-wee as Himself, is now streaming on HBO Max.
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Critics have universally embraced Pee-wee as Himself. It is holding a perfect score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, earning a glowing review from every approved critic. Ahead of its release, it had been revealed that Reubens came out as gay in his interview. Critics noted how the film benefited greatly from hearing Reubens' personal stories coming from the actor himself.
"Central to Pee-wee as Himself is the question of identity, on a level beyond Reubens grappling with how to balance his private life with his public persona. He speaks about fame as being a contract he signed without necessarily reading the fine print," Consequence critic Liz Shannon Miller said in a review.
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RIOTUS critic Julian Lytle stated, "Pee-wee as Himself is a fantastic portrait of an interesting artist that should open his mind to us and show us he's more than just his incredible creation."
"It is fascinating," Arizona Republic critic Bill Goodykoontz also wrote. "And Reubens is a magnet for the camera. Even sitting there talking, you can't take your eyes off him."
Another review by Rodrigo Perez of The Playlist added that Pee-wee as Himself "is a fascinating look at a complex artist, the comedy and joy he spread, his triumphs and tribulations, but also the scars that left him with lifelong distrust -- openly evinced in the open struggle between artist and filmmaker."
Pee-wee as Himself Has Arrived on HBO Max
Matt Wolf directed the documentary. Emma Tillinger Koskoff produced. It was executive produced by Wolf, Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie, Ronald Bronstein, Eli Bush, Candace Tomarken, Kyle Martin, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, and Sara Rodriguez.
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Reubens was best known for his Pee-wee Herman character, having played him on stage as well as in feature films and TV shows. His Saturday morning children's program, Pee-wee's Playhouse, made him especially popular, as did his movies like Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Reubens also had unrelated acting roles in different films and TV shows, though he was synonymous with Pee-wee Herman since the 1980s.
Pee-wee as Himself is streaming on HBO Max.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
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Pee-wee's Playhouse
TV-Y
Comedy
Family
Musical
Release Date 1986 - 1990
Cast
See All
Paul Reubens
Pee-wee Herman
John Paragon
Jambi
Phil Hartman
Captain Carl
Laurence Fishburne
Cowboy Curtis
Creator(s) Paul Reubens
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