The new in-depth documentary, Pee-Wee As Himself, made a splash at Sundance as audiences were granted access to never-before-seen footage and a final interview with the Pee-Wee star himself — Paul Reubens. The documentary was recently added to HBO Max (is it time to call it that yet?) and features a soul-baring recount of events straight from Reubens, as well as interviews from close individuals, including sister Abby Rubenfeld, artists Gary Panter and Wayne White, actors Lynne Stewart, John Moody, Alison Mork, Natasha Lyonne, S. Epatha Merkerson, Laurence Fishburne, Debi Mazar, David Arquette, Laraine Newman, and Cassandra Peterson, and filmmakers Tim Burton and Judd Apatow.
The Hollywood Reporter recently spoke with Joe Manganiello while promoting his series, Deal or No Deal Island, when he reflected on his friend Reubens. Manganiello can be seen alongside Reubens in Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday, and the actor stated, “I love Paul and I miss Paul a lot.” Manganiello even confessed that he had a dream involving Reubens recently and recalled, “Paul showed up and pranked me with a practical joke in my dream. It was one of those dreams when you wake up and it feels really real. It was so vivid. I just thought, gosh, if there was anyone on the planet who would use the afterlife to figure out how to play a practical joke on his friends and prank them in their sleep, it would be Paul. He was so generous.”
He also shared how much Reubens would celebrate the birthdays of his loved ones, “When he found out when your birthday was, he would bombard you with birthday cards, birthday messages, birthday texts, birthday videos the entire day.” He continues, “Friends of mine who just met him in passing through me, he would get their numbers and do it to ’em, too.”
Manganiello also recalled his experience working with him on Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday, “He was such a genius, but he didn’t demand that you treated him that way. I remember when we went to set the first day, I said, ‘Paul, when we get there, am I calling you Paul or am I calling you Pee-wee? Are you in character?’ He said, ‘No, I’m Paul.’ When I got there, he was there in a full-on suit and bow-tie [like Pee-Wee] but he was still Paul. He really wanted to set you up to win.”
