Latest news with #Pee-WeeasHimself
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Joe Manganiello, Who Starred in ‘Pee-wee's Big Holiday,' Chokes Up Remembering Late Friend Paul Reubens: 'I Was His Biggest Fan'
There's renewed interest in the life and career of Paul Reubens thanks to the critically acclaimed two-part documentary Pee-Wee as Himself from HBO Max. The film, from filmmaker Matt Wolf, recently hit the streamer after a world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Wolf worked closely with Reubens in pulling together the project, culled from more than 40 hours of on-camera interviews and 1,000 hours of archival footage and shaped over what turned out to be an emotional rollercoaster lasting four years. More from The Hollywood Reporter Matt Wolf Says Filmmaker Buddies Convinced Him to Re-Cut 'Pee-wee as Himself' to Include ... Himself Netflix EMEA Content Boss Touts 'Adolescence,' Debunks a "Myth," Talks Ted Sarandos' Acting Debut 'Lost in Starlight' Director Han Ji-won on Blending Romance and Sci-Fi for Netflix's Breakthrough Korean Animated Feature On the heels of Sundance revealing the 2025 lineup last December, The Hollywood Reporter happened to be on Zoom with Joe Manganiello to discuss the latest season of his buzzy new reality competition series Deal or No Deal Island. As the interview was winding down, THR asked Manganiello about the documentary and Reubens, someone he got to know quite well when he filmed a starring role in Netflix's 2016 film Pee-Wee's Big Holiday. As it turned out, Manganiello had been thinking a lot about his friend, who died on July 30, 2023, following a private battle with cancer. 'I love Paul and I miss Paul a lot,' Manganiello said, adding that he had recently woken up after having a dream about Reubens. '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.' As has been well-documented, Reubens loved birthdays and would never let one slip by without making it special. 'When he found out when your birthday was, he would bombard you with birthday cards, birthday messages, birthday texts, birthday videos the entire day,' Manganiello recalled. 'Friends of mine who just met him in passing through me, he would get their numbers and do it to 'em, too.' In the film, Manganiello plays himself and the actor recalled that Reubens wrote the part specifically for him, calling the gesture 'a validation that one of the great comedic geniuses would call me up' to be his partner on the film. '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.' Starring Reubens as the iconic Pee-wee Herman, the John Lee-directed Pee-wee's Big Holiday follows the adventures of the title character after a fateful meeting with a mysterious stranger inspires him to take his first-ever holiday in this epic story of friendship and destiny. The cast also includes Jessica Pohly, Alia Shawkat and Stephanie Beatriz. Reubens co-wrote the film with Paul Rust and produced it alongside Judd Apatow. As for the doc, at the time of THR's interview, Manganiello hadn't yet seen Pee-Wee as Himself, but he was excited by the fact that it exists. 'It's a good time for it and I think it's going to be really effective since it comes from his perspective,' said the veteran star. 'I think there's a lot of confusion with people about out what he was in trouble for and what he wasn't in trouble for, and that narrative has gotten really muddy. I think that he really did get a raw deal, and it really hurt him deeply. He was someone that felt things really deeply, and it's sad for me because I look back and I think about what the world would've been like had he not had to go into this self-imposed exile or this kind of society-imposed exile. It was dumb.' Manganiello, like so many of Reubens' close friends and collaborators, did not know about his years-long battle with cancer. And speaking about him in the interview caused him to get choked up and fight back tears, an emotional moment that he later discussed with People Magazine. 'I think about him all the time. I miss him a lot. He was like a family member. He would come over for Thanksgiving, he would come over to the house all the time, or I'd go to his [house],' recalled Manganiello, getting teary. 'He sent me a video before he passed away. It was just him talking about how much he loved me and how great I was in the movie and how funny he thought I was, how great of an actor he thought I was. It was just this glowing, unbelievable video. I didn't realize that he was sending that because he knew that his time was going to be short. I still have it in my phone and it's hard knowing that it's in there, but that's just the kind of person that he was. He let everybody that he loved know that he loved him all the time. I just feel so privileged to have had the chance to work with him on that intimate of a level and to get to know him as a person. I was his biggest fan. I loved him. I'll always miss him.' 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Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
This Chilling True Crime Docuseries About The Tylenol Murders Is The Top Show On Netflix
'Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders' is the top TV show on Netflix this week, according to the streamer's public ranking system. The docuseries, which debuted on Monday with three episodes, investigates who is to blame for the 1982 killings of seven people in the Chicago area who took extra-strength Tylenol laced with cyanide and died shortly after. The series features interviews with the victims' families, journalists, federal investigators — and the case's primary suspect, James Lewis, who gave his last interview about the investigation for the project. He died in July 2023. Like the title of the docuseries notes, the case is cold, and authorities never found out who was responsible for the deaths. But the series is a gripping exploration of a public health crisis and one of the largest unsolved crimes in U.S. history. Read on for more trending shows of the moment across streaming services, including Hulu, Apple TV+, Max and Prime Video. And if you want to stay informed about all things streaming and entertainment, subscribe to the Culture Catchall newsletter. Gordon Ramsay's new restaurant reality series premiered on Hulu last week and is already pulling in audiences. The chef, known for his brusque yet helpful culinary direction, is assisting struggling restaurateurs to turn their businesses around. In the first episode, he takes his talents to a Greek restaurant in Washington, D.C. The second episode debuts on Thursday on Hulu. Max released 'Pee-Wee as Himself,' a two-part docuseries featuring actor Paul Reubens, on Friday. In his own words, Reubens shares his life story and talks about his beloved character, Pee-Wee Herman. Director Matt Wolf said that he didn't realize Reubens, who died in 2023, was terminally ill while interviewing him for the docuseries. If you love NASCAR and family dynasties, perhaps you should check out 'Earnhardt,' Prime Video's new docuseries on racing extraordinaire Dale Earnhardt. The four-part series made its series premiere on May 21 with two episodes and the final two parts air on Wednesday. It explores the 'legendary racing career and complex family dynamics of the NASCAR superstar,' according to its logline. Apple TV+'s 'Your Friends and Neighbors' is creeping to the end of its first season this week — the finale airs on Friday — and is continuing to capture eyeballs on the streamer. Starring Jon Hamm, Olivia Munn and Amanda Peet, the TV series follows Coop (Hamm), a finance whiz who loses his job and decides to rob his wealthy neighbors to keep himself afloat. It's a fun and twisty drama that, thankfully, has already been renewed for Season 2. If you're looking for other TV shows to watch, check out our What We're Watching blog. 'The Last of Us' Season 2 Finale Confirms A Huge Missed Opportunity 'The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives' Is A Fascinating Look At Faith And Social Media Fame This 1 Moment Saves The New 'Mission: Impossible' From Being A Total Letdown
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Where to Watch ‘Pee-wee as Himself'
Director Matt Wolf spent two years interviewing Paul Reubens for his new HBO documentary 'Pee-Wee as Himself,' not realizing that the actor was dying of cancer. As he told TheWrap at Sundance earlier this year, 'I did have the sense that Paul was motivated to tell his story in a way he hadn't been before, that it was going to be challenging for him, but that he threw himself into that process and was fully committed to being himself on camera in a way that was totally uncomfortable and something he had never done.' 'The idea that these would be the last words that he would share publicly with the world was completely off my radar,' he continued. Here's how to watch the two-part documentary about the Pee-wee Herman star. It premieres Friday, May 23, at 8:00 pm ET/PT on HBO and Max. 'Pee-wee as Himself' is a two-part documentary. Both episodes premiere on May 23. Part One, which follows Reubens from his childhood through the creation of Pee-wee and his breakout with the 1985 film 'Pee-wee's Big Adventure,' premieres Friday, May 23, at 8:00-9:40 p.m. ET/PT. Part Two follows immediately, debuting at 9:40 p.m. ET/PT. It covers casting, production design and the creative process behind his Emmy-winning series 'Pee-wee's Playhouse,' which ran from 1986 to 1990 on CBS. It also features the actor's final interview before his death in July of 2023. The documentary is about the late Paul Reubens and his alter-ego persona, Pee-wee Herman. The film features interviews with filmmakers Tim Burton and Judd Apatow, actors Natasha Lyonne, S. Epatha Merkerson, Laurence Fishburne, Debi Mazar, David Arquette, Laraine Newman and Cassandra Peterson, artists Gary Panter and Wayne White and Reubens' sister Abby Rubenfeld. The post Where to Watch 'Pee-wee as Himself' appeared first on TheWrap.
Yahoo
26-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Pee-Wee as Himself' Director Got a Recording From Paul Reubens 24 Hours Before He Died
Over the course of two years, Matt Wolf spent hours interviewing Paul Reubens for his new HBO documentary 'Pee-Wee as Himself,' capturing a portrait of a man who could be warm and inviting on some days and pushy and controlling on others. It was a push-and-pull relationship between the director and his subject right up to the day before his death on July 30, 2023. 'I had no idea that Paul had been battling cancer for six years,' Wolf told senior writer Drew Taylor at TheWrap's Sundance Studio presented by World of Hyatt. 'I did have the sense that Paul was motivated to tell his story in a way he hadn't been before, that it was going to be challenging for him, but that he threw himself into that process and was fully committed to being himself on camera in a way that was totally uncomfortable and something he had never done,' he continued. 'The idea that these would be the last words that he would share publicly with the world was completely off my radar.' Wolf decided to make his relationship with Reubens over the course of the interviews part of the final cut of 'Pee-Wee as Himself,' showing how the famed comedic actor wasn't always forthcoming on every question. 'On the first day, the whole kind of rebelling against the process, or kind of pushing back on me, or telling jokes as a way to avoid addressing more kind of difficult subject matter. I realized that's how it was going to go. I certainly didn't take it personally,' he said. 'He was, by his own admission, incredibly controlling, as you can tell in the film, super gregarious, and also very ambivalent about being known publicly.' Wolf and Reubens had a final interview scheduled in the summer of 2023, but Reubens cancelled it two weeks prior to his death. Wolf says he found out about the actor's passing via social media and decided to travel to Los Angeles to meet with the people who were closest to Reubens. That led to a meeting with top Hollywood publicist Kelly Bush Novak, who provided Wolf with a recording of Reubens taped the day before his death. 'He made it for the documentary because he wanted to do that final interview, but it was too late,' Wolf recounted. 'Every day I woke up saying, 'You need to rise to the occasion of these extraordinary circumstances,' and the responsibility you've been handed to both live up to the challenge to tell Paul's story and his full complexity, but also to dramatize what happened, because it's a very unusual situation and circumstance for telling somebody's life story.' Watch the full interview in the embed above. The post 'Pee-Wee as Himself' Director Got a Recording From Paul Reubens 24 Hours Before He Died appeared first on TheWrap.
