In a documentary that premiered this week at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, Paul Reubens comes out posthumously after keeping his sexual orientation private for his entire career.Reubens died in 2023 from cancer at 70 after keeping the illness a secret for several years.The new documentary Pee-wee as Himself sees the comic open up about being in a romantic relationship with a man named Guy, according to the New York Post. It was in fact Guys 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-wees Playhouse, which ran from 1986 to 1990, and in several movies, including Pee-wees Big Adventure and Big Top Pee-wee. He took the character to Broadway in The Pee-wee Herman Show in 2010-2011. He appeared in guest roles on many TV series 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 wasnt pursuing the Paul Reubens career; I was pursuing the Pee-wee Herman career.The film, which will eventually air on HBO, according to the Post covers the actors decades-long career. Its director, Matt Wolf, spent hours with Reubens and spoke with him about his work and also his sex scandals.Reubens's reputation was tarnished somewhat when he was arrested on an indecent exposure charge for masturbating in an adult theater in Florida in 1991. He entered a plea of no contest and had to pay a small fine and do community service. Then in 2001, he was arrested in Los Angeles on charges of possessing child pornography. He said, however, that the images in his collection were not of children but of adults in physique poses such as those used in mid-century magazines that were popular with gay men. He agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor obscenity charge, pay a $100 fine, and register with the police for three years.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 wasnt, Reubens says in the documentary, the 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.Its 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.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 to 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.Outside of the Herman character, Reubens played guest roles on many TV series, including Murphy Brown, The Blacklist, and What We Do in the Shadows.When he revived his stage show in Los Angeles prior to a Broadway run, he spoke to 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, not yet the law of the land at that time (it being 2010), and Herman said he did.