Judd Apatow’s new documentary, “Paralyzed By Hope: The Maria Bamford Story,” the latest in his series of documentaries about comedy icons, premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, offering insight into veteran comedian Maria Bamford’s history of mental illness and how it became the centerpiece of her stand-up material.
Apatow, who described himself as “a gigantic fan” of Bamford’s, noted that it was her vulnerability that inspired him to make her the subject of this project.
“I’ve always been a gigantic fan of what she does on stage, and I’ve also been moved by how open she is about her struggles,” Apatow told TheWrap. “And I think it’s as funny as comedy gets, but also very hopeful, and it helps people realize that they can survive their struggles.”
Per Apatow, while Bamford has “a very loyal fan base,” he felt her story needed “more exposure,” adding, “It’s the kind of story that everyone should know about, and I think most people, if exposed to Maria, would love Maria.”
When asked what got her to agree to the documentary, Bamford said that “ego” played a part in it, along with her enjoyment of Apatow’s past docs on comedians.
“This was a little bit outside my wheelhouse,” she told TheWrap. “They did say they would pay me, which I understand in documentaries … sometimes you’re not supposed to do that.”
“It’s an archive fee, they call it,” Apatow responded. “But you know what? Let me make you feel better about this: You got 40 million less than Melania [Trump].”
Though Bamford wasn’t used to being followed by cameras, often checking to make sure stand-up special material wasn’t given away, she said it was easy to be open about her personal life thanks to being raised by her therapist mother. (Though, she does feel as though she comes off as a “terrible sister,” given her many jokes at her sibling’s expense.)
“I’m just doing jokes about my sister, and she’s just like, ‘Please stop,’” she joked. “But it’s funny! She’s the superstar! She has the beautiful four children, she’s a physician, her husband’s a physician. She gets all the glory. Can’t I have this one little dribbling piece of joy where I mock her incessantly on national TV?”
While Bamford found comfort in talking openly about her family, Apatow found some comfort of his own by self-financing the production of “Paralyzed By Hope.”
“I think it’s so difficult to convince anyone to do anything these days that every once in a while, it’s really fun to go, ‘I don’t want to deal with anybody,’” he said. “I just want to work on this and have it come out exactly right. I felt very comfortable with what the result would be…so it made it all easier because no one was looking over our shoulder. We could just follow it wherever it went.”
Neil Berkeley, co-director for “Paralyzed By Hope,” co-signed Apatow’s sentiment, sharing, “There’s advice you get a lot in entertainment which is, ‘Make the thing you’d like to watch.’”
He added: “And it’s really hard to take that advice, because you’re always thinking about an audience, or who’s going to buy it and all that. But Judd lives by that. It was empowering and cool.”
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