Paul Reubens, best known for playing the character Pee-wee Herman, comes out and discusses his sexual orientation in a posthumous, two-part documentary from HBO that just had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. After privately battling cancer for many years, Reubens died in 2023 at age 70.
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In this new documentary, Pee-wee as Himself, the performer opens up about being in a romantic relationship with a man named Guy, as reported by People. In fact, it was Guy's voice and behavior that influenced the character of Pee-wee Herman.
Reubens was known for playing the quirky, innocent character on the Saturday morning show Pee-wee's Playhouse, which ran from 1986 to 1990, and in several movies, including Pee-wee's Big Adventure and Big Top Pee-wee. He also took the character to Broadway, with The Pee-wee Herman Show, which ran from 2010 to 2011. Otherwise, the actor appeared in guest roles on many TV shows and lent his voice to numerous animated characters.
"I was out of the closet, and then I went back in the closet," Reubens says in the documentary. "I wasn't pursuing the Paul Reubens career; I was pursuing the Pee-wee Herman career."
Paul Reubens on set filming 'Pee-wee's Playhouse.'
John Kisch Archive/Getty Images
This two-part movie — an HBO Documentary Films production — covers the actor's decades-long career. Its director, Matt Wolf, spent hours with Reubens and spoke with him about his work and also his sex scandals.
"More than anything, the reason I wanted to make a documentary was for people to see who I really am, and how painful and dreadful it was to be labeled something I wasn't," Reubens says in the documentary, the New York Post reports. "To be labeled a pariah; to have people be scared of you, or untrusting."
In speaking about his relationship with Guy, who was from Echo Park in Los Angeles, Reubens said Guy would say things like "Mmmm! Buttery" in "a Yoda-like brogue" the outlet reports. It's a vocal style the character Pee-wee Herman used.
Reubens shares in the film about visiting Guy in the hospital as Guy was dying due to complications from AIDS.
Paul Reubens in 'Pee-wee as Himself.'
HBO/Max
While he had secret relationships, Reubens says his career became his focus, but he also internalized a lot of homophobia.
"I was secretive about my sexuality even to my friends [out of] self-hatred or self-preservation," he says. "I was conflicted about sexuality. But fame was way more complicated."
The subject of the obscenity charge led Reubens to stop cooperating with Wolf and the film team when it was brought up, according to the outlet. Eventually, he sent a final audio recording to Wolf to help complete the film.
Reubens was born in Peekskill, N.Y., and grew up in Sarasota, Fla. He began his career in comedy with the Groundlings troupe in Los Angeles, then created a stage show in L.A. as the Pee-wee Herman character. Titled The Pee-wee Herman Show, it ran for five months and was taped for an HBO special that aired in 1981, bringing Reubens national fame. He became a popular guest on Late Night With David Letterman and appeared at comedy clubs around the country. In 1985, Pee-wee's Big Adventure was released and added to his fan following.
Paul Reubens's image during the in memoriam segment at the 96th Academy Awards.
PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
Outside of the Pee-wee Herman character, Reubens played guest roles on many TV series, including Murphy Brown, The Blacklist, and What We Do in the Shadows.
During the process of reviving his stage show in Los Angeles (prior to its Broadway run) Reubens was interviewed by Out's sibling publication, The Advocate, in character as Pee-wee.
The interviewer noted that he once married a bowl of fruit salad on Pee-wee's Playhouse, and then asked if Herman supported marriage equality — which, in 2010, was not yet the law of the land. Herman said that he did.
Pee-wee as Himself, a two-part documentary, is set to premiere in 2025 on HBO/Max.
