Natasha Lyonne Remembers Paul Reubens Serving to Her By way of Rehab
Natasha Lyonne has seen plenty of life in her 46 years, and it began together with her on-screen debut as a toddler actor on “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.”
The lifelong performer — greatest identified for her latest string of streaming hits “Orange Is the New Black,” “Russian Doll” and “Poker Face” — has by no means shied away from sharing her struggles with dependancy in her teen and younger grownup years, a battle that culminated in a 2006 court-ordered stint in rehab. And in a latest interview on Amy Poehler’s “Good Cling” podcast, Lyonne revealed a touching reminiscence of how “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” creator and star Paul Reubens was there for her via that point.
As recalled by Lyonne, to listen to the late Reubens inform it, he was not all that stunned when issues “went south” together with her well being. He chalked it as much as the upbringing he noticed firsthand working together with her on his beloved kids’s program.
“Paul Reubens so lovingly mentioned to me when he took me to a steak dinner within the valley after rehab, he mentioned to me, ‘Oh Natasha, don’t fear about it. I used to be by no means shocked when issues went south, you’re going to be OK. However it was inevitable. You’ve obtained to recollect: I met your mom,’” Lyonne recalled, hitting Reuben’s punchline in her signature dry supply.
“It was an actual consolation to me that there was a witness to that point in my life,” she mentioned of Reubens, including that she additionally had Gaby Hoffman, Natalie Portman and Lukas Haas “as a result of they have been additionally in that Woody Allen film [‘Everyone Says I Love You,’ 1996] the place already I had a guardian.”
Watch Lyonne’s full “Good Cling” episode beneath:
Lyonne by and huge lived independently from her late mother and father from the age of 16, telling Poehler that they suffered from “untreated psychological well being, dependancy, no matter” and that she’s realized to forgive them for early-life difficulties that different kids didn’t need to take care of in higher circumstances.
“There’s no disgrace in no matter your psychological well being or dependancy or no matter else. It’s about: Are you handled or untreated? Like, are you experiencing a cycle of disgrace the place you refuse to get assist for it, or are you doing all of your greatest within the day you’re in, in the future at at time to handle it?” Lyonne mirrored. “I simply assume they didn’t know. Truthfully, I believe it was the ’80s, there was plenty of cocaine round, and I simply assume that was the most effective they might do. I forgive them for it.”
Reubens died of most cancers in July 2023, and in an interview with “Joyful Unhappy Confused” podcast host Josh Horowitz late final yr, Lyonne remembered her “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” boss as somebody who stayed in her life via to his passing.
“Paul and I stayed tight. I really like Paul Reubens, and he was so variety to me, at all times. And in direction of the top, he would even name me, I assume he was doing this documentary that the Safdies have been producing, and he was like, ‘Do you assume I ought to actually do it?’ It was such a, you realize, that weak flip that occurs late within the life, the place I had requested him a lot over time for assist and recommendation, and I used to be like, ‘Yeah, Paul, you’re such an exquisite human being, you realize, there’s nothing that you simply couldn’t expose.’”
“Pee-wee as Himself” debuted on HBO and Max final month. “Poker Face” Season 2 is at present airing new episodes on Peacock.
