Pee-wee as Himself

Pee-wee as Himself is a 2025 American documentary series directed and produced by Matt Wolf. It follows the life and career of actor and comedian Paul Reubens, best known for portraying the character Pee-wee Herman.

Pee-wee as Himself
Directed by	Matt Wolf
Music by	Jon Brion Michael Penn
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of episodes	2
Production
Executive producers	Matt Wolf Josh Safdie Benny Safdie Ronald Bronstein Eli Bush Candace Tomarken Kyle Martin Nancy Abraham Lisa Heller Sara Rodriguez
Producer	Emma Tillinger Koskoff
Cinematography	David Paul Jacobson
Editor	Damian Rodriguez
Running time	100–102 minutes
Production companies	HBO Documentary Films Elara Pictures First Love Films Polari Pictures
Original release
Network	HBO
Release	May 23, 2025 (2025-05-23)

It was released on May 23, 2025, on HBO and Max.^[1][2]

Premise

Pee-wee as Himself explores the life and career of actor Paul Reubens.

In the documentary, Reubens came out publicly as gay in interviews taped before his death in 2023.^[3] Reubens' sexuality had been discussed by certain outlets in the context of his 2002 arrest, though he had not publicly come out at that point;^[4] in the film, he notes that at various times in his life he had been in and out of the closet.^[3]

Production

In March 2021, it was announced Matt Wolf would direct a documentary revolving around Paul Reubens for HBO Documentary Films, with Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie set to executive produce under their Elara Pictures banner, and Emma Tillinger Koskoff to produce.^[5] In November 2024, the project was titled Pee-wee as Himself.^[6]

Wolf spent over 40 hours interviewing Reubens, and was given access to the actor's large collection of photographs and video footage. The film includes a final message from Reubens, recorded the day before his death; he discusses his 1991 and 2002 arrests and the damage they did to his reputation, blaming homophobia for the tabloid fallout in both cases.^[7]

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Original release date	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	"Part One"	Matt Wolf	May 23, 2025 (2025-05-23)	0.153[8]
Reubens discusses his childhood, his beginnings in comedy, the origins of Pee-wee Herman, and the creation of Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Throughout the documentary, Reubens has some clashes with Wolf over his interview style and his inability to have creative control.
2	"Part Two"	Matt Wolf	May 23, 2025 (2025-05-23)	0.133[8]
Reubens discusses working on Pee-wee's Playhouse and the failure of Big Top Pee-wee. Reubens' friends and colleagues talk about his scandals and arrests and his return to playing Pee-wee. At the end, a caption reveals that after 40 hours, Reubens refused to talk about the scandals, and one last voicemail from him recorded the day before his death is played.

Release

It had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2025.^[9][10]

Reception

Critical reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating based on 46 critic reviews. The website's critical consensus states, "Blessed to have the late Paul Reubens feature in candid conversation, Pee-wee as Himself is a revelatory glimpse at the complicated man behind a beloved comic creation."^[11] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave a score of 82 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".^[12]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
2025	Gotham TV Awards	Outstanding Original Film, Broadcast, or Streaming	Matt Wolf and Emma Tillinger Koskoff	Won	[13] [14]
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special	Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Matt Wolf, Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, Paul Reubens, and Candace Tomarken	Pending	[15]
		Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program	Matt Wolf	Pending
		Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program	Damian Rodriguez	Pending
		Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program	Daniel Timmons, Ian Cymore, Ryan Billia, Jeremy S. Bloom, Kelly Rodriguez, Eric Caudieux, and Jonathan Zalben	Pending
		Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program	Johnny Mathie	Pending