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How Did Pete Davidson Get Famous? His Skyrocketing Comedy Career From MTV to ‘SNL’ Explained
It’s been a wild ride! Pete Davidson has been skyrocketing to fame as one of the youngest cast members in Saturday Night Live history, but how did he get famous? Keep reading to learn more about his career.
Pete was born and raised in Staten Island, New York. His mother, Amy, worked as a high school nurse, and his firefighter father, Scott, tragically died in service during the September 11, 2001, attacks. Pete was just 7 at the time, and that event greatly impacted him.
The Suicide Squad actor first got his feet wet in comedy at 16 while he was at a bowling alley with his friends. The group, knowing his comedy aspirations, dared their pal to go up on stage and perform.
“I smoked a joint, and I did it,” Pete recalled about that night. “It went all right. I got the bug where I just needed to be an attention whore for 12 minutes a day every day.”
After graduating high school in 2011, the Big Time Adolescence star attended one semester at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights before dropping out to pursue a career in comedy.
He started getting traction by scoring gigs on various MTV shows, including Failosophy, PDA and Moms, Guy Code and Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘N Out. His first television standup aired as part of Gotham Comedy Live on Comedy Central, which showcased a variety of comics performing at the iconic club in New York City.
However, his big break came when he joined Saturday Night Live for the show’s 40th season premiere in 2014. Being just 20 at the time, Pete was not only one of the youngest cast members ever, but he was the first star of the show to be born in the 1990s. Pete was given the chance to audition thanks to Bill Hader after meeting the comedic actor through the 2015 film Trainwreck starring Amy Schumer.
Since then, Pete’s star has only been rising, and he’s also been getting his feet wet with a blossoming film career. He starred in 2020’s The King of Staten Island, and in 2021, he was cast as Joey Ramone in the Netflix biopic I Slept With Joey Ramone. Pete is also serving as a cowriter and executive producer for the movie.
While Pete’s career has been on a steady incline upward, his dating history contributed to his name appearing across headlines daily. He was engaged to singer Ariana Grande during their five-month-long whirlwind relationship in 2018. He has since been romantically linked to Kate Beckinsale, Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor and Kim Kardashian.
