Joe Pesci will play Pete Davidson’s granddad on his new Peacock series Bupkis, which will be his third appearance on television, according to Deadline. In the same vein as Larry David’s long-running HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, Bupkis is partially based on Davidson’s real life. Edie Falco, who played his mother on The Sopranos, will portray Davidson’s role as himself. It will follow the 2020 Judd Apatow film The King of Staten Island as the second recent movie to portray a portion of Davidson’s life.
Since his appearance as crime-fighting Hollywood bodyguard Rocky Nelson on the NBC detective series Half Nelson, which ran for only one season in 1985, Pesci will play Bupkis in a regular TV role. Pesci’s career in the entertainment industry has been unconventional; he began as a singer and, before switching to acting, was one half of a comic duet with frequent co-star Frank Vincent. His breakthrough performance playing LaMotta’s patient brother in Martin Scorsese’s Jake LaMotta drama Raging Bull led to two decades of Hollywood celebrity.
Pesci, who was equally adept at humour and drama, played a variety of brash characters in both commercially successful movies like the Home Alone series and the Lethal Weapon sequels as well as critically praised movies like Goodfellas, Casino, and My Cousin Vinny. He abruptly proclaimed his acting retirement in 1999 and has only occasionally since then, making a cameo appearance in Robert De Niro’s 2006 directorial debut The Good Shepherd.
Davidson not only stars in Bupkis, but also co-wrote the script and served as executive producer. Along with Davidson, the series will also be written and executive produced by Dave Sirus and Judah Miller, with Miller serving as showrunner. Executive producing will also include Broadway Video’s Erin David, Andrew Singer, and Lorne Michaels. In addition to directing, Jason Orley will co-executive produce. The studio belongs to Universal Television.