In a recent interview onLive Your Truth:An Honest Conversation With Charlamagne Tha God,Pete Davidsonsaid he’s ready to leaveSaturday Night Live. He didn’tactuallysay this, but that is the headline that has been extrapolated from his interview, and the news we’re forced to grapple with today, on Tuesday Afternoon Live.
This (inevitable) split should come as no surprise, as Davidson is better known as a tabloid celebrity and fuckboy player than as anSNLplayer these days, and when that happens – when non-essential cast (it’s true, outside of Chad) starts to overshadow the show itself – it’s usually time for them to head for the exits.
But you and I have an unusual perspective on this unfolding mishegas, for we know something the general public probably doesn’t know.Theyknow he dates a lot of famous women, butweknow something else – we know that Pete Davidson is about to become a movie star. In less than a month,Judd Apatow’s new movieThe King of Staten Islandwill open SXSW, and from what I’ve heard, it will make Peter Michael Davidson a legit movie star. Judd Apatow has a pretty good track record in my book, so if he thinks Davidson is ready to be a “prime time player,” I’m inclined to buy stock and grab a seat on the bandwagon.
Hell, Hulu waited an entire year to release his indie comedyBig Time Adolescence, which debuted at Sundance way back in 2019. It’s going to hit the streaming service at just the right time on March 13, and will be waiting at home for fans ofKing of Staten Islandwhen that film opens wide on June 19. It’s also the kind of movie that could strike a chord with young viewers, primingthemfor the release of Apatow’s film three months later – one written by and starring a guy whose first role in a movie was ‘Stinkfinger’ in the little-seen comedySchool DancefromdirectorNick Cannon.
Davidson has worked with Apatow before, playing one ofBill Hader’s patients in the director’s 2015 comedyTrainwreck. He also had roles in the Netflix moviesSet It UpandThe Dirt, which I don’t think is by accident. I think Netflix knows that young people, i.e. teenagers, are interested in Pete Davidson. And really, can you blame them? He’s consideredone ofthem. When I was a kid, I worshipped people likeMike Myers,Jim CarreyandAdam Sandler. Today’s 25 year-olds probably grew up with Apatow discoveries likeSeth RogenandJames Franco. But studios are making far fewer comedies these days, and when they do make them, it’s with older stars likeWill Ferrelland even 40-year-oldKevin Hart.SNL’s Myers was 28 whenWayne’s Worldcame out, the same age as Sandler whenBilly Madisonhit theaters. Carrey was 32 whenAce Ventura: Pet Detectivecame out, and by that point, he’d already been working in movies for a decade.
The point is, today’s teens need theirowncomedy stars, and whether we like it or not, that’s Pete Davidson. He’s “cool” (i.e. he’s not on Twitter), he has no idea how to dress himself, and the young’uns can relate! Personally, I’m a Davidson fan myself. I like his story, I like his comedy (check out his specialSMD), and onSNL, I love his apathetic stoner Chad. But besides that character, which isn’t exactly Mango, seeing as how it asks very little of him beyond the word “okay,” I think he’s entirely expendable on the show, which is far too obsessed with politics. If Davidson played a key political figure, I could seeLorne Michaelsasking him to stick around for one more year, at least through the 2020 election, but he doesn’t, and more often that not, he’s used more as Weekend Update fodder for the audience to mock.
Davidson is a willing participant, of course. That’s his brand of comedy, and I think it definitely plays into some of the comments he made on this week’s episode ofLive Your Truth: An Honest Conversation With Charlamagne Tha God. But we won’t know if Davidson is serious until he actually walks away, or gets fired for seeming above it all, whether that’s the media’s fault or his own. As Davidson himself said, “I’ve done as much as I can over there,” which is why I think the time is right for a jump to the big screen.
Whether Davidson leavesSNLor stays for one more season is immaterial. He’s a budding movie star either way, and the only person who can slow his ascent is himself. People respond to his story. He lost his father in 9/11, and he’s a recovering addict. Sure, he trips on his own big dick from time to time, but he keeps getting back up, and that’s the kind of story – and star – that America loves. Just look atRobert Downey Jr.!
Circling back what Davidson actually revealed in the interview, he said, “I personally think I should be done with that show because they make fun of me on it,” alluding to some of his appearances on Weekend Update. “I have a weird feeling in that building where I don’t know whose team they’re playing for really – if I’m the joke, or I’m in on the joke,” he said.
“They think I’m fucking dumb. I’m literally painted out to be this big dumb idiot,” said Davidson, adding that he has spoken to Sandler about when to leaveSNL. “I have a lot of conversations with people, because it’s a hard thing to do. You don’t ever want to pull the trigger too early. Everybody’s always been like, ‘You’ll know when you know, and it’ll be all right.'”
Davidsonwillbe all right, just like he was when he was sweating out his first three seasons onSNL, which he described as “a cutthroat fucking show. Everyone’s trying to get their shit on. Everyone wants to be the next thing.” Which is understandably frustrating when youarethe next [big] thing.
Davidson went on to say that Michaels “has treated me with nothing but love, and he’s like a father figure to me,” so don’t be surprised if they end up working together again in the future, ifSNLdoes, indeed, become part of their past. Davidson said he’s “happy to be there as long as Lorne likes me.” but ultimately, “I think everybody outgrows it.”
That may be true, but one thing that no one seems to outgrow anymore is comic book movies, and naturally, Davidson has one of those lined up, too. He’s set to appear inJames Gunn’s DC movieThe Suicide Squad, and it’s about a bunch of criminals and assorted misfits who take on dangerous missions. As you might imagine, Pete Davidson fits right in with that motley crue. He’s on a mission himself – a mission to entertain us. I wish him well on his journey, both in recovery, and fromSNLpunchline to bonafide movie star, and may Twitter have mercy on his tattooed soul.
