Watch Paul Reubens in trailer for posthumous documentary ‘Pee-Wee as Himself’

Paul Reubens, better known as iconic comedy character Pee-Wee Herman, bares his soul in a posthumous two-part HBO documentary that now has a trailer and release date.

Pee-wee as Himself is pieced together from more than 40 hours of interview footage filmed before Reubens’ death in 2023. Director Matt Wolf also had more than 1,000 hours of archival footage at his disposal and “tens of thousands of never-before-seen photographs” from Reubens’ personal collections.

The footage has been distilled into a 200-minute documentary, which has been cut into two halves. The entire portrait will be released simultaneously on the streaming platform.

“There wasn’t, like, a moment in the ’80s that wasn’t super cool to be me. And then, dark music.” Reubens announces early into the trailer, “Bum, bum, bum… I lost control of my anonymity, and it was devastating.” Reubens is here referencing his arrest in 1991 for indecent exposure, which led to the end of his anonymity in a police sting operation.

The documentary doesn’t shy away from this event and his mugshot is even used in the trailer. “Reubens openly discusses further legal battles, his exoneration, his ultimate resurrection as a public figure, and the apotheosis of Pee-wee as an adored and enduring cultural icon,” HBO said in an announcement.

In 2019, Reubens spoke of his biggest regret which was turning down David Bowie. “David Bowie, who I completely idolised, asked me twice to open for him on two of his tours, both of which times I said ‘I’m not an opening act, David, I’m sorry’,” he said.

“I’m going to leave out the part where we did enormous amounts of drugs,” he confirms at the end of the trailer. Oh… I didn’t.” The meta performance shows Reubens exerting influence from beyond the grave, making for an emotional watch.

The HBO original documentary Pee-wee as Himself premieres on May 23rd on HBO.