“I’m having trouble figuring that out myself lately”: Like Heath Ledger’s Joker, Paul Reubens Got So Lost in Pee-wee Herman He Forgot Who He Was
Paul Reubens, the man behind the high voice and red bowtie, will be forever etched in the heart of his fans. His Pee-wee Herman persona gave decades of kids the courage to foster their weird imaginations. In one of his last posts, Reubens, who was known for playing the comic character Pee-wee Herman in the 80s, asked his fans to forgive him for living privately over the last several years as he battled cancer. The actor even thanked his followers for standing by him through his lengthy television career.
Paul Reubens Explained How He Created Pee-wee Herman In A 1981 Interview
Perhaps Reubens’ biggest triumph with the fictional character, Pee-wee Herman was developing five seasons of the gonzo Saturday morning kids show Pee-wee’s Playhouse, from 1986 to 1990. Although Reubens mostly pursued other roles and projects after the end of Playhouse, he revived Pee-wee for a 2016 Netflix film, Pee-wee’s Big Holiday. But it was not easy for the star to create such an iconic character, that continues to enchant fans even after decades.
The late, Paul Reubens explained to CNN how he created his iconic Pee-wee Herman character during a 1981 interview. The actor also recalled his struggles about how he came up with his alter ego Pee-wee Herman. It isn’t the first instance when as an actor one has got lost in their character. Joker star, Heath Ledger said in a New York Times interview that playing the Joker was “physically and mentally draining.” Similarly, Reubens too was consumed by the elements of the character at a point in time.
Everything To Know About Pee-Wee Herman and The Man Behind That Dream
Paul Reubens, the 70-year-old writer, producer, and actor behind Pee-wee’s precocious man-child in a 2016 interview with Vanity Fair, the Emmy-nominated, scandal-surviving, and determinedly private Reubens offered a rare glimpse of the man behind the red bow tie and tiny gray suit. Reubens credited his lively childhood with helping inspire the whimsical world of Pee-wee.
Reubens first ventured on his acting journey in an elementary-school production of the Tony-nominated play A Thousand Clowns. As an aspiring actor from a young age, Reubens dreamt of having a career like Ron Howard, the child star of The Andy Griffith Show. Pee-wee Herman is a comic fictional character created and portrayed by American comedian Paul Reubens. Recently the industry lost one of its precious gems, as the actor died of cancer.
Source: Laughing Squid
