JUDD APATOW
How the veteran comedy director’s regular hallmarks fit into his sixth movie, THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND
An exclusive audience with the mayor of Apatown, the funniest city in America.
JUDD APATOW LIKES to make movies for a big crowd. “Comedies are built for a communal experience,” he says. But while the filmmaker’s sixth directorial effort, The King Of Staten Island, earns an unexpected digital release this month, he felt the time was right for its emotional story, co-written by and starring Saturday Night Live comedian Pete Davidson. “The theme of our movie is heroes, and the effect that those sacrifices have on families. It feels like the movie applies to this moment. I wanted people to see it now.” Here, Apatow explains how his directorial hallmarks fit into his most moving film yet.
DISCOVER FRESH TALENT
A long-time veteran of Hollywood’s comedy scene, Apatow is constantly looking for the next comic voice: The 40-Year-old Virgin, Knocked Up and Trainwreck made movie stars out of Steve Carell, Seth Rogen and Amy Schumer, respectively. Pete Davidson was on Apatow’s keenly trained comedy radar since before his Snl/ariana Grande infamy. “We put Pete in Trainwreck,” Apatow recalls. “In a very small cameo, mainly so we could say we were smart enough to know he was going to be a movie star one day. I’ve done that in movies before. I just want to plant my flag that I knew they were going to be one of the greats. He was 20 years old and it was incredible how funny he was already.” Shortly after that cameo, the pair began discussing a project together.
MAKE IT SEMI-AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
The majority of Apatow’s directed films are at least partly drawn from real life; The King Of Staten Island was no exception. “I wrote it with Pete and his writing partner, Dave Sirus. And it was a process of asking Pete how honest he wants to be. The movie is fictional, but it’s very truthful to his emotional life.” The story —
about a Staten Island stoner who never quite got over his firefighter dad’s death — is a kind of ‘alternate timeline’ of what might have happened to Davidson if he’d never found comedy, and was still living at home in the New York borough of Staten Island. “It’s very hard to live in the shadow of somebody who made the ultimate sacrifice,” Apatow says. “We had a lot of very long psychological discussions. I think that process was very cathartic.” The painful subject matter also impacted Apatow’s approach. “I tried to value the drama more than the comedy this time. I had to do something I had not done before: show restraint.”
FIND YOUR BROS
Apatow is a master of male bonding. The King Of Staten Island comes with its own stoner crew, many played by Davidson’s real buddies. “Ricky Velez, who plays Oscar, is Pete’s best friend in real life,” explains Apatow. “He helped us punch up the script because he just knows Pete so well. That’s how I tried to cast the entire movie.” Authenticity was key to Apatow’s casting — comedian Bill Burr plays a father figure to Davidson’s character; in real life, Davidson met Burr “when he was 14 or 15 years old. He was always a mentor to Pete.”
KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY
Every Apatow film is a family affair, with most featuring at least one appearance from his wife, Leslie Mann, or daughters Maude and Iris. Here, Maude plays Davidson’s sister — though she’s no longer the adorable bairn from his earlier films. “She’s not the kid from Knocked Up improvising about how babies are created anymore,” he says. “She and Pete had a really unique, funny relationship. I loved the idea of Maude playing the one person in the movie who could call Pete on all his bullshit. I could tell that on those days, it seemed to get under Pete’s skin for real. That’s how I knew it was working.”
LET LOOSE WITH IMPROV
Long before it was commonplace, the director pioneered the use of ‘alts’ — allowing his actors free rein to go off-script and finding the right gag in the edit. The King Of Staten Island’s somewhat more serious approach didn’t stop this method. “I feel like the improvisation works for comedy and drama,” Apatow says. “I like to hire actors and actresses that have very creative minds. I always say it’s like a half-assed Mike Leigh.” Davidson, who came from a stand-up background, was “very comfortable” with this loose style. “As a person, Pete is very present. He very quickly loses himself in moments and scenes. When we were shooting a scene, Pete seemed to forget we’re making a movie,” the director laughs. “In the best possible way.” THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND IS ON DIGITAL FROM 12 JUNE