Pete Davidson just wants to be known for doing great work… but only every couple years.
The actor-comedian recently opened up in an interview with W Magazine about the negative impact of being “oversaturated” within the movie and television business.
“In The Sopranos, there’s this line from Tony that’s like, ‘You ever feel like you got into something at the end? When the good times were over?’ That’s how I feel about show business and being a celebrity. It’s over,” Davidson said.
“When you’re first coming up, and getting all these offers, it’s hard to say no, because you’re hungry. I made the mistake of doing literally everything,” he continued. “Now I’m older and wiser, and I’m realizing that less is more. Like Christian Bale. He does one movie every two, three years, but you go fucking see it. Leo[nardo DiCaprio] does one movie every four years, but it’s the biggest thing in the world. It’s because you miss them. People have to miss you.”
In addition to starring on Saturday Night Live for eight seasons (he left the show in 2022) and in films such as Bodies Bodies Bodies and the semi-autobiographical dramedy The King of Staten Island, Davidson also saw a lot of public attention surrounding his relationships over the years, making headlines with his past partners, including Ariana Grande, Kim Kardashian and Madelyn Cline, among others.
“I just want to be known for doing good work,” Davidson confessed. “I want to be out there only when it’s movie, stand-up, charity, or business ventures. That’s when I want to be seen. I don’t want to be this fucking loser who just dates people. That’s not who I am. But people hate celebrities now.”
He continued, “The media takes a handful of celebs every couple of years, and they just destroy them. For some reason, I’m one of the people they chose to go after. It’s actually, in a way, a blessing, because it allowed me to take a step back and evaluate things. What do you want to be? Who are you? I’m someone who is from Staten Island, wanted to do stand-up, and if I got to do anything else because of stand-up, it was a miracle.”
The Bupkis star said he’s “very happy where I am right now, mentally,” and feels lucky that he was woken up about being “hit on the face with the Hollywood shovel.”
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