Key Points
Pete Davidson is playing incarcerated mobster Tommy Pitera in new movie Tommy Karate.
The comedian transformed into the Bonanno crime family enforcer with a full set of hair paired with facial prosthetics.
He previously said the movie is a “dream job.”
Pete Davidson has a flair for the dramatics — and his new role as New York City mobster Tommy Pitera proves it.
The Saturday Night Livealum is unrecognizable while sporting a new look in the first image from upcoming crime thriller Tommy Karate. Production on the film, based on the book The Butcher: Anatomy of a Mafia Psychopath by Philip Carlo, is currently underway in Atlanta.
Davidson is wearing a wig of epic proportions along with what appears to be some facial prosthetics for the movie, which will turn him into the titular character. The movie’s title, Tommy Karate, is in reference Pitera’s martial arts training, which earned him the nickname.
Pitera was a mob enforcer for the Bonanno crime family and was suspected of 60 murders prior to his 1992 incarceration. He was convicted of murdering six people and supervising a drug operation, receiving a sentence of life in prison.
The film will follow the pursuit and capture of Pitera by DEA Agent Jim Hunt, who will be played by Paul Walter Hauser. Camila Mendes and Simon Rex are also set to star. Justin Chon, who wrote the movie alongside Davidson and Joseph Gay, will direct. Davidson is also a producer on the film.
“Tommy Karate is the greatest mob story never told. I’ve been working on this for over three years, and I’m beyond thrilled that it’s finally in motion,” Davidson said in a statement in March. “Playing a role like this is a dream job. We have a great team behind this one, and I can’t wait for people to see what we’ve come up with.”
Pete Davidson on ‘Saturday Night Live’Credit: NBC
Chon released a statement of his own earlier this year, noting that he and Davidson are “reimagining the gangster genre through a contemporary lens” with this project. The duo is “driven by character, fresh visuals, and real consequence,” he noted.
“This isn’t nostalgia,” Chon added. “It’s a reinvention.”
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Similarly, Davidson has reinvented his own Hollywood image, going from comedian to movie star, appearing in films like Bodies Bodies Bodies, The Dirt,and The King of Staten Island. While acting is now his career, that doesn’t mean Davidson is always comfortable in front of the camera — especially when it comes to more dramatic roles.
“Acting is just so embarrassing,” he told Entertainment Tonightlast year. “It’s because I’m a stand-up [comedian], so you know, it’s very ridiculous. In order for me to get there and be like ‘Ohhh!’ I can only do that two or three times before I start laughing, you know what I mean?”
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