'Quiz Lady’s' Writer And Director Explain The Surprising Way The Paul Reubens Cameo Came To Be

Cinema Blend

One of the funniest ongoing jokes in the Awkwafina and Sandra Oh-led comedy Quiz Lady is Holland Taylor’s character's inability to tell the difference between Alan Cumming and Paul Reubens. Throughout the film, her character Francine claims that she adores Cumming, but, the images she's always referring to are of the actor behind Pee Wee Herman. So, when she meets Reubens, she thinks it's Cumming, and he pretends to be The Traitors' host. This scene was more than just a funny moment, it was also incredibly touching because it marks Reubens’ final role. So, when I had the chance to interview the creative team behind the comedy on the 2023 movie schedule, I had to ask about the incredible actor and his hilarious cameo.  The Surprising Story Behind How Paul Reubens Ended Up In Quiz Lady  Jen D'Angelo, the writer and producer of Quiz Lady, told me the story behind how Reubens’ cameo came to be. Honestly, hearing how she came up with the idea makes the situation even funnier, because this actor-mix-up wasn’t the original plan.

Transcript

00:00 The other person I really wanted to ask about was the Alan Cumming, Pee-wee Herman joke

00:06 comparison situation. How did you come up with that idea when you were writing the script? And

00:10 then what was it like when you heard that Paul Reubens was down to come do a cameo?

00:14 I mean, it was amazing. I so originally in the script, again, when I wrote it, just sort of like,

00:21 I'm just writing this alone at home for myself. Francine's original crush, she was obsessed with

00:28 Ray Donovan. And so she originally was supposed to run into Liev Schreiber at the very end.

00:33 And then when Liev was unavailable, I was just sort of thinking of like, what is a satisfying

00:41 celebrity cameo that we can pay off? And I just have always, I love Alan Cumming,

00:48 and I love Paul Reubens. They're both amazing. And that idea just sort of came to me that I was like,

00:54 I think it's really funny if Francine is just completely wrong about who she loves and just

01:00 refuses to admit it and never sees it. And so, yeah, we put that Alan Cumming, Pee-wee Herman

01:08 joke in there. And then when Paul Reubens agreed to do it, I mean, I was ecstatic. I couldn't

01:13 believe that we were going to get him. And obviously, you know, I'm so honored that I was

01:19 able to work with him. And it's so sad that he's since passed away. But that day on set, he was

01:27 only on set for one day, but he was such a big part of the movie and so lovely and just so happy

01:33 to be there. And watching him just improvise with Holland was incredible. So it's such an honor that

01:41 he's in the movie.

01:42 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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