-You know our first guest from his work on
"Saturday Night Live."
He co-wrote and stars in "The King of Staten Island,"
which is available on demand now.
Here's my conversation with our friend Pete Davidson.
Pete, buddy, it is so nice to see you.
How are you doing?
-I'm good, man.
You know, just chillin' in my mom's basement, being safe.
-That is -- The rumor was that you were in your mom's basement.
I was on "Howard Stern" this morning,
and he was saying that he talked to you last week
and was busting you on the fact that you have a movie
that you wrote and you starred in and it's coming out
and there's no premiere party and there's no red carpet
and you are, in fact, in your mom's basement.
-Yep. Couldn't have turned out better for me.
[ Both laugh ]
-There is something really fitting on making
a movie that is -- I mean, I think there's
been very few films that are a love letter to Staten Island,
which I do believe this movie is in a lot of ways.
And, yet, it seems like the price you paid for that is --
you have to be in Staten Island the week it opened.
Like, it did not allow you any escape from Staten Island.
There is something to the fact that this is,
I mean, a film about Staten Island,
real people from Staten Island, people who like being there,
who feel it's undervalued.
What have your friends thought of the film?
Because, obviously, you take a lot on your back
when you make a film about your hometown.
-My friends really dug it.
The main comment I got from my friends --
they would, like, pause the movie and they would call me
and they'd be like, "Bro, I know Marisa Tomei is your mom.
And don't take any offense to this, but, bro, she's hot."
And I'm like, "There's no offense to that at all.
It's a fictional -- Yeah."
So that's the biggest comment I got.
-How does your mom feel about the casting of Marisa Tomei?
-Oh, my mom's just thrilled. We're all just such big fans.
And she's so incredible and such a genius.
So, like, feel like we got away with something.
Like, we're so thrilled to have her in it.
-She's amazing. Your grandfather is in the film.
-Yeah, my actual grandfather's in the film.
He came to set every day and hung out.
And he told me that he could tell that I was doing well
because of the food that they were serving.
He was like, "Peter, there's pork chops today,
so I know everything's going alright."
-Was it the plan from the beginning to have him
in that graduation scene or did he sort of talk his way
on to the set?
-I think Judd just pulled me aside and was like,
"I think he would crush it."
And then I was like, "Yeah, he probably would.
And then he arguably has my favorite scene
in the entire movie.
-It's really funny.
Don't take this the wrong way, but when he first
opened his mouth, I had this thought --
"Oh, Pete knows that person."
It did not seem like someone you found
via a normal casting table.
-Yeah. He really knocked it out of the park.
We're really happy for him.
-So, you know, this movie is, you know, based, obviously,
on your real life, and, you know, the crux
of it is that you lost your father,
who was a fireman, in 9/11.
I have heard you talk about that onstage before,
but I have to imagine writing about it for a film --
is it cathartic?
Is it painful?
Like, what was that process like?
-It was a little bit of both.
I think it could've been a lot worse if Judd and the crew
wasn't so sensitive to my feelings.
They really made me feel, like, comfortable.
So it was definitely more of a cathartic experience,
and it definitely made me feel a lot better as a person.
-Judd is, obviously, well-known and deservedly receives
a lot of praise for helping people tell their stories,
but before Judd got on board, like, earlier drafts,
when it was just -- And who's the friend of yours
that you co-wrote it with?
-Oh, Dave Sirus, the great Dave Sirus.
-So, you guys -- Early drafts were less about
this cathartic journey and more about --
Well, why don't you tell everybody
what the early drafts were like.
-Yeah. Originally, it was just me and my friend
were writing this movie about getting my mom laid,
and it just got overly disgusting.
And then Judd turned it and weaved it into this
120 pages of emotion and an actual story,
so thank God for him.
-A far different film.
-A very different film for sure.
-You have some -- I mean, some classic,
well-known, great actors.
Like, we mentioned Marisa Tomei. Steve Buscemi is outstanding.
-Oh, yeah. -Bill Burr is fantastic.
One of my favorite stand-ups, and he is just a great actor.
Is this someone you had always wanted to play that part?
-Bill Burr is a hero of mine,
And I think he's the greatest stand-up comic ever.
So, like, Judd and I were just like,
"If there's any way we can get him to do --"
He was another guy we were like,
"I hope we can get him to do this,
you know, 'cause he's so great."
And it was a dream come true getting to work with him.
He destroyed it.
-He was wonderful.
And it's really fun to watch, you know,
someone you know as a stand-up, like, just hold their own,
you know, in scenes with someone like Marisa Tomei.
And I should also note, I felt the same way about you.
Like, you and Bill are two people I know sort of uniquely
from watching you be versions of yourself.
It was really fun to watch this movie
and sort of forget you were Pete.
It was great.
I mean, did you feel -- Is the burden of acting --
And I know you've done movies, but is the burden of acting
when you are playing a version of yourself bigger or is it
do you feel more comfortable?
-Oh, I felt a lot more comfortable,
because it's just like, "If nobody likes this,
it's just they don't like me."
It's not like I was reaching or anything.
It's just people just don't like me.
That was my way out of it.
-You said your Staten Island friends have been pleased with
the way that the film turned out.
Were people excited when there was a film set
on Staten Island in the beginning?
-People from Staten Island would -- It's very --
A lot of people were excited about it,
but a lot of people were, like, very frustrated
with the traffic that it brought.
-I see.
-Like, you know how, normally, like,
if anybody's shooting anything and people will
stop by and be like, "What is this?
Oh, my God. This is amazing."
A lot of people would stop by and be like,
"Hey, you're blocking my driveway."
-You know what?
I can't believe it took this long,
considering the show is based in New York,
but I think it's safe to say this is the first era
in "SNL" where there are two actors, two cast members,
from Staten Island, you and Colin Jost.
-Yeah.
-Colin also did a movie called "Staten Island Summer."
Do you think he regrets now going first
and not naming his movie "The King of Staten Island"?
-Probably. I don't know.
Colin's crushing it in Montauk with the waves, man.
Colin doesn't care about the Internet fodder.
Colin's destroying the world.
-He's "The Monarch of Montauk." That's what you're saying.
-Yeah. He's the man.
-Alright, we're going to come back with more
Pete Davidson right after this.