NEED TO KNOW
Pete Davidson will always have a friend in Eddie Murphy.
The comedian and actor, 31, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview that he not only considers Murphy, 64, to be someone he can count on, but also an individual he is grateful he shares similarities with.
“I’ve been an Eddie Murphy fan since I was five, six years old, when my mom bought me Delirious from FYE,” Davidson says, referring to his mother, Amy Waters Davidson, and Murphy’s stand-up comedy television special from 1983.
“She thought it was another Eddie Murphy movie, and then I just fell in love with stand-up,” he continues.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Courtesy Amazon MGM Studios
Davidson and Murphy have a shared history, as they both starred on Saturday Night Live, which launched both of their acting and comedy careers into the limelight.
The Bupkis star joined the cast at age 20, starring on SNL for eight seasons from 2014 to 2022. Murphy, meanwhile, was 19 years old when he first started working on the late-night comedy sketch series for five seasons from 1980 to 1984.
The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!
“The thing that’s really cool about Eddie is we were both some of the youngest cast members ever,” Davidson says. “And we just have a lot of similarities in our personal lives too. Our fathers both passed when we were [young], … and it’s why we got into comedy.”
“I’ve been in this business a long time, … and it’s nice to get advice from people, but no one gets it more than him, just in an age timeline,” he adds. “I’m not by any means saying that I did the same things as him, because he was infinitely more talented and did way more s— than I did, but it’s nice to just get advice from someone who literally gets what I’m going through. It was really special, and I’m very lucky that I got to have that opportunity.”
Chris Haston/WBTV via Getty; Lloyd Bishop/NBC via Getty
Davidson and Murphy got to work together in The Pickup, an action-comedy film that follows two armored truck drivers who are chased by criminals.
“It was a blast,” Davidson — who is partnering with Amazon for Alexa+ — tells PEOPLE. “It’s one of those where, if ten-year-old Pete knew that this would happen, he’d be like, ‘Oh my God.’ It was one of those I couldn’t believe, and I still can’t believe it.”
“I just had a dumb smile on my face all the time, because Eddie’s the G.O.A.T. There’s Eddie Murphy, and then there’s the rest. He’s the reason for everything,” he adds.
The Pickup is available to purchase and stream on Prime Video now.
