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“It’s really a process film that shows how soap operas are made, but it also explores the history of the genre through this extraordinary family legacy that’s not well known,” Wolf tells PEOPLEWolf recently directed the two-part documentary Pee-wee as Himself, which features material from 40 hours of interviews with Paul Reubens, best known for his beloved character Pee-wee Herman
For nearly 40 years, The Bold and the Beautiful has captivated audiences worldwide. Now, director Matt Wolf is pulling back the curtain with an upcoming documentary that offers an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the iconic soap opera and the remarkable legacy of the family behind it.
“I’m not a lifelong soap fan, but I sure am now,” Wolf tells PEOPLE about creating the documentary Soaps, which includes deep dives into the biggest and most successful soap operas in the industry, with a strong focus on The Bold and the Beautiful. “It reflects, in a broader way, the cultural significance of soap operas and the incredible task involved in bringing these stories to the screen every day.”
Wolf explains that the film is told “through the prism of the Bell family dynasty,” referring to the family behind The Bold and the Beautiful. Created by William Bell and Lee Phillip Bell, who also created The Young and the Restless, the show has been written by their son Bradley Bell for over 30 years.
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“It’s really a process film that shows how soap operas are made, but it also explores the history of the genre through this extraordinary family legacy that’s not well known,” Wolf says. “I’m focused on the day-to-day inner workings of The Bold and the Beautiful, showcasing the workplace follies as well as the incredible craftsmanship and artistry behind the scenes that deliver stories to rapturous fans five days a week for nearly half a century.”
Soaps is not the only documentary Wolf has been focused on recently. He also directed the two-part documentary Pee-wee as Himself, which premiered May 23 on HBO. The film features intimate interviews with Paul Reubens — best known for his alter ego Pee-wee Herman — who aimed to “set the record straight” about the pivotal moments that shaped and challenged his career.
Despite spending over 40 hours in conversation with Reubens, Wolf says he had “no reason to believe that Paul was contemplating his mortality.” In reality, Reubens had been quietly battling lung cancer for six years, confiding only in a small circle of close friends. “It was incredibly shocking,” Wolf recalls of Reubens’s death, which occurred on July 30, 2023, just one week before they were scheduled to record a final interview. “I found out that Paul died on Instagram along with everybody else.”
HBO
Describing Reubens, Wolf says he was “without a doubt the funniest person I’d ever met — incredibly smart in an unconventional way, super sensitive and emotional, yet also combative and confrontational.”
He adds, “He was someone who was super intense and could be very uncompromising but also someone who had done a lot of work on himself and was always striving to do better, whether it was his work or his personal life. So I felt a lot of empathy for Paul. He had endured a significant amount of trauma based on his media scandals and controversies, and I wanted to advocate for him because I believed in him.”
