Natasha Lyonne has seen a lot of life in her 46 years, and it all started with her on-screen debut as a child actor on “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.”
The lifelong performer — best known for her recent string of streaming hits “Orange Is the New Black,” “Russian Doll” and “Poker Face” — has never shied away from sharing her struggles with addiction in her teen and young adult years, a battle that culminated in a 2006 court-ordered stint in rehab. And in a recent interview on Amy Poehler’s “Good Hang” podcast, Lyonne revealed a touching memory of how “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” creator and star Paul Reubens was there for her through that time.
As recalled by Lyonne, to hear the late Reubens tell it, he was not all that surprised when things “went south” with her health. He chalked it up to the upbringing he saw firsthand working with her on his beloved children’s program.
“Paul Reubens so lovingly said to me when he took me to a steak dinner in the valley after rehab, he said to me, ‘Oh Natasha, don’t worry about it. I was never shocked when things went south, you’re going to be OK. But it was inevitable. You’ve got to remember: I met your mother,’” Lyonne recalled, hitting Reuben’s punchline in her signature dry delivery.
“It was a real comfort to me that there was a witness to that time in my life,” she said of Reubens, adding that she also had Gaby Hoffman, Natalie Portman and Lukas Haas “because they were also in that Woody Allen movie [‘Everyone Says I Love You,’ 1996] where already I had a guardian.”
Watch Lyonne’s full “Good Hang” episode below:
Lyonne by and large lived independently from her late parents from the age of 16, telling Poehler that they suffered from “untreated mental health, addiction, whatever” and that she’s learned to forgive them for early-life difficulties that other children didn’t have to deal with in better circumstances.
“There’s no shame in whatever your mental health or addiction or whatever else. It’s about: Are you treated or untreated? Like, are you experiencing a cycle of shame where you refuse to get help for it, or are you doing your best in the day you’re in, one day at at time to address it?” Lyonne reflected. “I just think they didn’t know. Honestly, I think it was the ’80s, there was a lot of cocaine around, and I just think that was the best they could do. I forgive them for it.”
Reubens died of cancer in July 2023, and in an interview with “Happy Sad Confused” podcast host Josh Horowitz late last year, Lyonne remembered her “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” boss as someone who stayed in her life through to his passing.
“Paul and I stayed tight. I love Paul Reubens, and he was so kind to me, always. And towards the end, he would even call me, I guess he was doing this documentary that the Safdies were producing, and he was like, ‘Do you think I should really do it?’ It was such a, you know, that vulnerable turn that happens late in the life, where I had asked him so much over the years for help and advice, and I was like, ‘Yeah, Paul, you’re such a beautiful human being, you know, there’s nothing that you couldn’t expose.’”
“Pee-wee as Himself” debuted on HBO and Max last month. “Poker Face” Season 2 is currently airing new episodes on Peacock.
