Saturday Night Live has been on the air for 50 years, and many of its cast members — past and present — have taken time recently to reflect on the NBC sketch comedy show and the impact it’s had on their lives. Lots of laughs were shared when the SNL: 50th Anniversary Special aired on the 2025 TV schedule this month, but for many, including Pete Davidson, reminiscing about their early days caused a different emotional reaction.
Pete Davidson was just 20 years old when he auditioned in front of the silent SNL producers for what would lead to an eight-year stint on the show and unexpected levels of celebrity. He admitted on the SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night docuseries (streaming with a Peacock subscription) that it was “wild” to see the hope in his eyes as he made self-deprecating jokes while sporting a Spider-Man T-shirt from Target. It actually made him cry, he told Page Six, saying:
The innocence in my eyes made me so sad. Showbiz is so tough, and I didn’t know how tough it was.
Pete Davidson has been open about his struggles on the show as one of the youngest cast members ever hired on Saturday Night Live. He said others on the show were getting married and having kids, while he was inviting people over to play video games. He felt so isolated and lonely that he said he even asked Lorne Michaels to fire him.
In addition to those tough early days at SNL, the Bupkis star has also been candid about his personal struggles with addiction, borderline personality disorder and PTSD, admitting:
I picked the wrong business to have a mental illness and go into. I’m one of the most insecure and sad people ever, and I picked the most insecure, sad business to go into.
He’s said before that being a “sad boy” led to his getting about 200 tattoos, which he has spent years undergoing the painful process of having burned off. One thing that hasn’t helped, he says, is that the world is more obsessed with Pete Davidson’s love life than Pete Davidson’s movies and TV work. Even at the Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special, the big story surrounding Davidson was the viral video that appeared to show Davidson and ex-girlfriend Kim Kardashian avoiding each other.
However, Pete Davidson certainly wasn’t alone in becoming emotional over watching his old Saturday Night Live audition. SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night showed several comedians shedding tears over the vulnerable performances of their younger selves, and with so many major names returning to Studio 8H for the milestone celebration, I can imagine the memories — both good and bad — came flooding back to many of the performers.
Currently Pete Davidson can be found on the 2025 movie calendar voicing Petey the Cat in Dogman, and don’t miss all of the upcoming hosts and musical guests for SNL Season 50, which airs at 11:30 p.m. ET Saturdays on NBC and Peacock.
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