You know Paris Hilton. How could you not? The hotel heiress has been part of our cultural zeitgeist for the better part of two decades, having stepped out of the shadow of her family name to become an “It Girl,” author, reality TV personality, producer, actor, tabloid fodder, pop star, activist, entrepreneur, model, convicted probation violator, DJ, and an early influencer in the fledgling days of social media. “Famous for being famous,” Hilton’s life has seemingly played out on TV screens, paparazzi cameras, and Instagram, so what could a documentary tell us that we don’t already know? As she states in the trailer for This Is Paris, “I feel like the whole world thinks they know me—no one really knows who I am.”

Touted as the first genuine, unfiltered look at Paris Hilton’s life, the YouTube Originals documentary wants to show who the star really is behind the “character” she’s been playing since she first uttered, “That’s hot!” on The Simple Life. Produced by Aaron Saidman—who worked on Leah Remini’s Scientology And The Aftermath series—and directed by Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story’s Alexandra Dean, This Is Paris digs deep into the psyche of someone who’s constantly in the spotlight, and details Hilton’s abuse allegations against the boarding school she attended as a teen. Back in January, at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour, The A.V. Club was given an early peek at the doc, and a chance to sit down Hilton, Dean, and Saidman to discuss her lasting mark on pop culture, and to help us delineate between “Paris Hilton, the character” and “Paris Hilton, the person.”

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