How Pete Davidson Started His Comedy Career:
American comedian, actor, and writer Pete Davidson was born in Staten Island, New York, on November 16, 1993. He is well recognized for his work on Saturday Night Live (SNL). In addition to being one of the show's youngest cast members, he gained notoriety for his easygoing demeanor and intensely intimate monologues.
Pete Davidson grew up in Staten Island, one of the boroughs of New York City. On September 11, 2001, his father, firefighter Scott Matthew Davidson, was murdered while participating in search and rescue efforts while he was just seven years old. Davidson has frequently discussed how his career was shaped by the death of his father. Kevin Hart stated, “I always tell my friends that if my childhood had been okay, I’d probably be a construction worker in Staten Island and the happiest guy ever,” Back in 2022, he shared this on Kevin Hart’s popular talk show, Hart to Heart. Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle were among his early comic influences.
At the age of fifteen, Pete Davidson started performing as an opening act for comedians on tour, such as Nick Cannon. Years later, he had appearances on MTV programs including Guy Code and Wild ‘N Out in addition to landing a guest spot on the television series Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He got a small part in comedian Amy Schumer’s comedy film Trainwreck (2015) after meeting her while playing at the Comedy Cellar in Greenwich Village, New York.
Director Judd Apatow asked Schumer who he should meet when the movie was being made. After she recommended Davidson, Apatow asked him to make a brief appearance alongside Bill Hader, who was then a cast member of Saturday Night Live. The teenage actor so impressed Hader that he suggested Davidson to Lorne Michaels, the chief producer of Saturday Night Live.
Pete Davidson joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 2014, making his debut on the iconic show when he was just 20 years old.” He subsequently said that his age frequently made him feel like an alien on the show, despite the fact that his quick wit and wide-eyed appearance made him instantly popular. “Everyone was more than ten years older than me, and it was hard to connect,” he remarked in an interview with Page Six in 2025. There was an age difference, but nobody was cruel.
I said, “Do you guys want to come over and play video games?” while they were busy tying the knot and stepping into family life. I therefore spent most of my time with Lorne. Pete Davidson regularly incorporated experiences from his own life into the program. For instance, he made light of his brief engagement to pop sensation Ariana Grande and their subsequent split during the 2018–19 season.
Pete Davidson caused a great deal of controversy that same season when he made fun of Dan Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who lost an eye while serving in Afghanistan and now wears an eye patch. “You might be surprised to hear he’s a congressional candidate from Texas and not a hitman in a porn movie,” Davidson quipped, adding, “I’m sorry; I know he lost his eye during combat or whatever.” The week following Crenshaw, Davidson apologized, saying, “That man is a war hero, and he deserves all the respect in the world,”was elected to the House.
Later, Crenshaw joined him on the set of the Weekend Update and used the opportunity to make fun of Davidson. Davidson was commended by The Washington Post at the end of the season for bringing “a much-needed mix of humor and sadness to a show that had been criticized for growing stale due to its constant attacks on the Trump administration.”
After leaving SNL in 2022, Pete Davidson has continued to work as an actor and writer on a number of projects. One of his standout projects is the 2020 film The King of Staten Island, a movie he helped write alongside Dave Sirus and Judd Apatow. Davidson portrays a fictional version of himself in the film, Scott, who is grieving the loss of his father, a firefighter who was murdered while performing his duties. Bill Burr plays her new boyfriend, and Marisa Tomei plays his mother. In 2023, Davidson played himself in the television series Bupkis, which starred Joe Pesci as his grandfather and Edie Falco as his mother.
In the animated movie Dog Man from 2025, he also provided the voice of Petey the Cat. Additionally, Davidson has released two comedy specials on Netflix: Pete Davidson: Turbo Fonzarelli (2024) and Pete Davidson: Alive from New York (2020).