The first trailer for Pete Davidson and Judd Apatow’s new film
The King of Staten Island has arrived. The personal dramedy relies heavily on the SNL star’s own life and features an impressive cast of actors and comedians to deliver the personal and poignant storyline.Davidson plays Scott, a tattoo artist wannabe who spends more time stoned than practicing his craft, perpetually stuck in arrested development following the death of his father, a firefighter. Davidson named his character after his own father Scott Davidson, a Staten Island firefighter who died on 9/11. The trailer opens with Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness” setting the gentle burnout tone for Davidson’s Scott and acting as a nod to the comedian’s longtime love for the rapper. Although his younger sister, played by actor Maude Apatow, has been able to get her life together, Scott is in a rut and living in Staten Island with his mother, played by Marisa Tomei. Scott’s world is shaken once again when his mother brings home her new boyfriend Ray, played by comedian Bill Burr, who is also a firefighter. Ray encourages Scott to join the department and take on the career that killed his father.
Filmed on location in Staten Island during the summer of 2019, the impressive cast is rounded out by Steve Buscemi, Pamela Adlon, Machine Gun Kelly and Bel Powley. Apatow and Davidson wrote
The King of Staten Island together with former SNL writer Dave Sirus, and Apatow is behind the camera for the new film, which is set to be released on demand starting June 12.Apatow and Davidson appeared on Thursday’s episode of
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to celebrate the release of the trailer, which dropped at midnight. Going back to the beginning of their friendship, Apatow said it was Amy Schumer who introduced him to Davidson and his work.“When I was doing
Trainwreck, I asked Amy Schumer, ‘Whose funny, who should I know?’ She said the funniest person is this 20-year-old kid Pete Davidson and so we put him in
Trainwreck,” said Apatow, who directed the 2015 film. “He has one line, just because we wanted him to be like our Richard Dreyfuss in
The Graduate, like look, we knew he was funny before anybody else, so he had this one brief scene with Bill Hader.”“It was really crazy,” remembered Davidson. “I was on set for maybe 12 minutes and I met Bill Hader and about a day later, Bill Hader called me and he goes, ‘I recommended you to Lorne Michaels.’ I was like, why? I barely had any interaction with him and then I got the show, so I blame that and everything else that has happened to me since on Bill Hader.”Although
The King of Staten Island was slated for a theatrical released, Apatow and Davidson decided to premiere it next month on demand in a continued effort to honour the work of first responders. Speaking to Fallon about the film, Davidson said “We wanted to show how wonderful all these fireman and nurses are and I think we did that.”Apatow noted that
The King of Staten Island includes an appearance by the best friend of Davidson’s late father, a Staten Island fireman who also worked as a consultant on the film.
Boardwalk Empire’s Steve Buscemi also plays a firefighter in the movie and the actor worked for years as a firefighter before becoming an actor. “It was a great privilege to be around that community because they really are heroes and the best people and I just so hope that they like what we did,” said Apatow.
[video_embed id='1812329']Before you go: Fans can't get over how much Pete Davidson and Margaret Qualley look alike[/video_embed]
