Pete Davidson Reflects on Past "Immature Irrational Decisions" as He Teases His SNL Future

After nearly seven years as a cast member of Saturday Night Live, Pete Davidson has shed a bit more light on how long he expects to stay on the iconic show.

By Samantha Schnurr May 27, 2021 8:32 PMTags
Watch: Here’s What's Next For Pete Davidson

Don't count on Pete Davidson to break Kenan Thompson's Saturday Night Live record. 

As fans may know, the Nickelodeon alum is the star who has spent the most years ever as a cast member on the long-running sketch comedy show. While Davidson, now 27, made waves of his own when he joined the show in 2014 at just 20 years old—making him the first cast member to be born in the 1990s and one of the youngest in the show's history—he made it clear during The Hollywood Reporter's Comedy Actor Roundtable that he's not looking to replicate that long of a tenure. 

"Yeah, I'm good. I'm surprised I made it to seven," he said, reacting to Thompson's 18 SNL seasons. "I'm ready to hang up the jersey. Kenan's like f--kin' Karl Malone out there."

Still, the star was grateful to be able to work on the show amid the coronavirus pandemic, a time when performers from all corners of Hollywood faced uncertainty about what they would and could do next. 

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Pete Davidson's Stacked Dating History

For Davidson, the pandemic also forced him into some significant reflection. "I was at a really different place a year or two ago and I'm not exactly proud of how I handled or was handling things a few years ago," he admitted. "Looking back on it, you're like, 'Ahh, come on, dude,' but luckily, a pandemic happened and I got kicked in the balls and had to sit with all of my immature, irrational decisions."

While he didn't elaborate further on the decisions he was referencing, back in February 2020 just before the pandemic took hold of the United States, Davidson did express some discontent with the show that turned him into a star. 

"Here's the thing: I personally think I should be done with that show because they make fun of me on it," he told Charlamagne Tha God in a sit-down interview. "I'm cold-open political punchlines. I'm Weekend Update jokes. When I'm not there, they'll be like, 'Hahaha, but Pete's a f--king jerkface.' And you're like, 'Whose side are you on?' I have a weird feeling in that building where I don't know whose team they're playing for really—if I'm the joke or I'm in on the joke. I really wanted last year to be my last year, but I'm still around and trying to knock it away."

Will Heath/NBC

More than a year later, his tune has changed a bit. "I was so happy when they said that SNL was going to come back," he said during the roundtable, "because I was just like literally sitting in a room with my own thoughts and I was feeling really bad. I felt really lucky and I was really excited just to work and see people and I kind of had a different outlook for this season and kind of moving forward."

"Just been able to have a lot of fun and just been really appreciative," he reiterated. "Not working at all really sucks, so I was just really happy to get back to work."

For more of THR's roundtable, watch it above!