Pete Davidson says Eddie Murphy is the reason he became a comedian

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Should you ever find yourself in a position in which you’re working with one of your childhood idols, Pete Davidson has some advice: Act nonchalant.

Davidson, 31, found himself in that unlikely position when he was tapped — alongside fellow actor Keke Palmer — to act alongside Eddie Murphy in The Pickup, a new action-comedy now streaming on Prime Video.

“I told myself, ‘You got to play it cool. If you play it cool for a couple of weeks, then you’ll be able to bond.’ I knew I couldn’t come up and say ‘Hey, I love Beverly Hills Cop‘ and start quoting all of his movies, which I so badly wanted to do,” Davidson told Postmedia in a recent interview.

After getting her start as a performer as a child actor in Barbershop 2 and Akeelah and the Bee, Palmer just wanted to be a “professional” around the comedy legend.

“I’ve been on a lot of movie sets and when you’re on an Eddie Murphy set, things run smoothly. Nobody is playing games. The cast, the production — everybody is on point. So I lived for that.,” the 31-year-old singer and actress says while seated next to Davidson.

In The Pickup, Davidson and Murphy play two mismatched armoured-truck drivers who are ambushed by a group of ruthless criminals led by a savvy mastermind (Palmer).

It’s a throwback to Murphy’s earlier films. In a separate interview, Murphy mused how he might have invented the action-comedy genre with his work in 48 Hrs. and Beverly Hills Cop.

“I know it sounds pretentious if you don’t know the history, but I was a kind of pioneer,” Murphy said. “The very first action-comedy movie is 48 Hrs. Before 48 Hrs. there were no movies where you had action and comedy.”

After watching the finished product, Davidson, who made a name for himself on Saturday Night Live before transitioning into his own acting work with notable roles in 2020’s The King of Staten Island and the 2022 black comedy horror Bodies Bodies Bodies, says he’s thrilled to be a part of Murphy’s return to the cinematic genre.

“I’m finally in a movie I would go see,” Davidson said laughing. “That’s awesome.”

Davidson and Palmer spoke over Zoom on a recent Saturday afternoon about their experiences making the film and working with Murphy.

The two of you are working with a legend in The Pickup. What’s the first day on set with Eddie Murphy like?

Palmer: For me, it’s about being professional … I wanted to make sure I showed up, did my thing and made it easy because Eddie’s a legend and I know he’s going to come ready, so I got to be ready.

Davidson: Luckily, I got to shoot with Keke first and then I got to do a couple of things solo and then I had a small scene with Eddie that only took an hour where we kind of got to hang. It gradually built from there … so I didn’t ruin it for myself. But once we were in the middle of shooting, we were in the car for three weeks and we were comfortable and having fun and it was a blast, dude. It really was.

Pete, I didn’t know that you and Eddie are two of the youngest cast members in SNL’s history. How did he influence you growing up?

Davidson: When I was 7, I saw Shrek and I was blown away by Donkey and my mom told me that it was Eddie Murphy. One day we went to F.Y.E. and they had a copy of Eddie Murphy Delirious, which I didn’t know was a standup (special). I bought it and on the car ride home I was watching it and Eddie was like, ‘F– this and f– that.’ and my mom was like, ‘Whoa, what’s this?’ And I told her it was the Donkey guy from Shrek. My mom told me I couldn’t watch it, but she saw how hard I was laughing and how mesmerized I was by him and so she told me I could watch Eddie Murphy’s movies at home as long as I didn’t tell anyone. So I would just do his act around the house. At 7 years old, I would be blurting out, ‘The ice cream man is coming!’ So he’s responsible for anything I do, really.

Did you see this as a throwback to some of Eddie’s earlier work?

Palmer: For sure. I think what people love about him the most is a hodgepodge of those things. But it’s interesting because he leaves some of those windows open for Pete and I to do our own spin on them. Comedy artists, artists in general, they evolve over time. So he doesn’t play the same beats. He finds new beats to play especially as he’s grown in his stories and his life. So it was cool to see him lob up jokes for us to do.

Davidson: He’s so seasoned and seen so much stuff, he knows how to make a movie better. He’s a very generous scene partner, lobbing it up for all of us.

So what’s it feel like when you make a guy like Eddie Murphy laugh?

Palmer: I don’t know how many times I made him laugh, I just know I wanted to try and make him proud … It was an honour to learn from him. I did this movie right before I did One Of Them Days and I think his situational humour … his improv … those little details that I was observing was like a masterclass. I was watching just as much as I was engaging.

Davidson: You made him laugh … You made him laugh a lot. She’s very humble.

Palmer: Pete always does this. He’s the best wingman you could ask for.

The Pickup is now streaming on Prime Video.

mdaniell@postmedia.com