After successful years of making television, Paul de Leeuw suddenly became less in demand. That thought brings doubt: what is your expiration date? In the 1990s, transgressive humor had a liberating effect. “It wasn’t always to insult or criticize people, but it was a kind of celebration. Now we can say all kinds of things to each other, we thought at the time.” Now De Leeuw sees that many of those fragments are being taken out of context. Every few years “some kind of deluge” comes over him. “A parody with a boy was cut to one minute and went viral, after which I was called the biggest pedophile in the Netherlands.”
De Leeuw once even received a death threat: “A filed bullet in a letter to the VARA office.” But he does not let criticism and doubt about his relevance sour him. As a child he practiced in front of the mirror with a hairbrush, and he still stands there speaking to himself to this day. Its expiration date has not yet passed. “You have to reinvent yourself. But that has been a huge success.”
Do you have questions, suggestions or ideas about our journalism? Send an email to [email protected].
- Presentation:
- Pieter van der Wielen
- Editing and production:
- Merel van Waalwijk van Doorn
- Mixing:
- Audio chief
- Music:
- Rufus van Baardwijk
- Photo:
- NRC
