Paul Rust recognized right away what creative opportunities Netflix could offer that most broadcast and cable networks could not. Working as a staff writer on the reboot of "Arrested Development," Rust hoped he could one day work with the company that seemed to have "really good tastes" and gave its talent great support without too much interference.

That opportunity came a couple years later when Netflix picked up the movie "Pee-wee's Big Holiday," co-written by Rust and Paul Reubens, who reprises his iconic role as Pee-wee Herman. The 34-year-old actor-writer was only 4 when the last Pee-wee movie, "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," premiered in 1985, but producer Judd Apatow handpicked him to work with Reubens on the script.

"I think it was Judd recognizing that Pee-wee Herman is one of the great comedy creations and one that we still have living with us today," Rust told HNGN exclusively about Apatow's enthusiasm for the project. "The thing that excites Judd more than anything is if he believes in something and thinks it's funny, he wants to do what he can to make sure people get to see it."

Rust and Apatow's collaboration continues on the Netflix original series "Love," co-created with Rust's wife Lesley Arfin. Rust stars opposite Gillian Jacobs in a show that portrays a modern relationship from the very beginning, hitting on intimacy, commitment, love and everything else that comes with getting to know someone on a deeply personal level.

Again, Rust credits Apatow for realizing his movie pitch of "Love" could be better explored in a series format. And although they shopped the TV pitch to many studios, the three co-creators also secretly wished it would eventually land at Netflix, which would give the show the opportunity to set its own pace for Gus and Mickey's story to unfold.

"During consideration of the movie, [Apatow] was like, 'I feel like there's a lot of interesting stuff to mine here. If we did this in a movie, we would have to squeeze everything in and breeze by some of the more interesting parts of how two people get together," Rust said. "And he had this idea for a while of doing a TV show that was based on a relationship from the moment they meet to how they get together and having that unfold over an entire series."

Continue reading HNGN's interview with Rust talking about his mentee relationship with Apatow, introducing a new generation to Pee-wee Herman and how dating in Los Angeles differs from dating in New York.

Judd Apatow has become a mentor to many young comedians like Lena Dunham and Amy Schumer. How has he helped you in your career?

Judd has been extremely generous. I'm very grateful to be able to work with someone who is so smart and just really talented at helping people, mentoring people to do the things that they want to do. When I was in college, I had a friend with "Freaks and Geeks" videos and we would watch them and, in a strange way, that's where Judd's mentoring began because when I saw that, it really changed how I was writing. I watched "Freaks and Geeks" and I was like, "Oh, if you write about your own personal experiences and if you're specific about it both in what happened and how you felt about it, it can make for scenes that are really compelling." For the rest of college, I was basically ripping off "Freaks and Geeks" with plays I wrote and stuff like that.

When I actually got to start working with him side-by-side, he [would suggest] basic stuff like, "Hey, if this doesn't feel true to you, don't write it because the people watching it are going to be able to sniff it out that the writer doesn't really believe this." He's always been a perfect mentor.

What did you and Paul Reubens consider most important while writing "Pee-wee's Big Holiday" - introducing a new audience to Pee-wee Herman or making it recognizable to fans that first fell in love with the character 30 years ago?

I think we definitely wanted it to feel like it was a Pee-wee movie and that it wouldn't be in unfamiliar territory, but we also put a big premium on not leaning too heavily on jokes from the previous movies. We tried as much as possible to avoid that, and I'm proud of what we pulled off. It feels like a Pee-wee movie and it's in the spirit of the character. The thing that I like about Pee-wee is it can exist on the level of midnight college cult movies that the hip kids are into and, at the same time, it could be something a kid and his family watch together. Being able to straddle both lines of being subversive and, at the same time, very inclusive - I love that about the character.

A lot of times the character in a comedy, it's about how they're annoying and disrupt things. The thing I always liked about "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" was Pee-wee's, obviously, an oddball, but nobody in that universe points a finger at him and goes, "Look at the weirdo!" I think that's why weirdo, arty kids like it so much because it's sort of like a utopia. I get to let my freak flag fly and nobody gives me s--t about it. So that was the most important thing with this Pee-wee movie, and I think we pulled it off.

How did you get the idea for "Love"?

The show was co-created by myself, my wife Lesley and Judd. It began when Lesley and I presented Judd with a movie idea that was based on a couple similar to Mickey and Gus on the show and Judd really was stoked, really liked the characters and the relationship.... I think he saw this couple in the movie [pitch] and was like, "Hey, this could be the couple that would be interesting for a TV show." A lot of times in a movie about a couple, around the third or fourth date is when you do a three-and-a-half minute montage that sort of jumps over the next four weeks of a relationship and you're sort of missing out on the more interesting things that happen in a relationship. A lot of times during those points is when you're sowing the seeds of the things that later will grow into something that destroys the relationship. So that became the really exciting thing in the room.

We knew that we had, at the very least, 22 episodes to be very patient, so the math became the whole fun of writing the show. How slow can we go and, in general, when people's relationships start, it's a lot of misses, it's not one meet cute and then things start off. It's usually the other person is in a relationship that's still kind of happening or things are going on at your job that doesn't allow you to be ready for a relationship or you're still hung up on an ex. There are a lot of reasons why it's difficult to get two people together. And, above all, just two people who get in the way of themselves or self-sabotage, and so that became the really fun thing about writing this show, seeing how long we can go before these two people even admit to each other that they're attracted to one another.

So you can spread the buildup of a relationship over multiple episodes rather than doing it all upfront?

Yeah, I think if we were doing it as a network show and people were watching it week to week, I think there would be a pressure to go, "Oh, by the third episode they have to tell each other that they love each other." To be able to sort of do it realistically like, "Oh no, it takes a long time before someone's able to say 'I love you.'"

Were you originally going to star as Gus? And did you audition a lot of actresses for the role of Mickey?

The part of Gus, I was hoping I'd get to play it. I think the fact that it's actually one or two degrees from my actual self, and the glasses that my character wears are the same glasses that I'm wearing now in life. I'm not doing any Daniel Day-Lewis thespian here. I think it was a no-brainer that I would be playing the part because it was close to me. And then for Gillian, there was no audition - we were writing it with Gillian in mind. I'm a huge fan of her work and I really liked "Community." Gillian, in real life, is the most well-adjusted person I know. She's got her head screwed on very tight and is great and smart and amazing and supertalented. A lot of times, she gets cast as sort of damaged, crazy people, and the thing is when I watch her perform, I could tell that she was playing it truthfully, and if anything, trying to perform the character in a way that's defending the character. When we were writing the character of Mickey, that always seemed to be the challenge of having somebody play this character without judgment and play that authentically, and Gillian was the No. 1 person on our minds.

These characters are in their early 30s. How does that make the show different from shows dealing with relationships between people in their early to mid-20s?

I think that was what we found really interesting about this specific relationship is that for two people in their early 30s, the 10 years before that while you're trying to find a mate, you're also working hard to have food on the table and a roof over your head. And something happens in your 30s where the actual mechanics of life become a little easier and it opens up a space in your brain to start asking more existential questions. Questions you couldn't even ask yourself before because you were like, "F--k, I need to pay my rent." You don't have the time to sit back and think, "What do I do in a relationship that I self-sabotage and ruin them?" You don't have the capacity to do that. I think that's what we wanted to embrace on the show. It's not about two people who have to pay rent or they have to get a good job. It's sort of like what people think life should look like when it's going well and it's not.

A lot of shows focused on modern day relationships take place in New York City. How does your show differ being set in Los Angeles?

As far as relationships go, New York is a sexier city. You can meet somebody and you can hop in a cab and stay together and go to their place. In L.A., you meet someone and say, "OK, get in your car and follow me two and a half miles to my house," and then you get there and [you have to find] street parking. Back in my single days, there were so many times that street parking was going to be the thing that could f--k up everything because the person would be like, "You know, it's hard to find a spot. I'm just going to go home." I think there's an aspect of that. I'm not the first person to talk about this, but L.A. is just sort of a weird city because it's just a bunch of little towns put together under the umbrella of L.A. So people feel disconnected from each other and far apart, and in a relationship that can also be a thing. "I met this person and they're great, but they live on Venice Beach and I live 15-20 miles away. So whose house do we spend the night at and where do we go?" I guess there's a weird way L.A. rears its head.

"Pee-wee's Big Holiday" and the complete first season of "Love" are now available for streaming on Netflix.