Brad Garrett Talks All About Having Sex With Pete Davidson md04

“I can’t believe I’m having sex with Pete Davidson!”

That’s not something you’d expect to be exclaimed by a TV character played by Brad Garrett, of all people—the Emmy winner best known for starring in nine seasons of Everybody Loves Raymond. But that exclamation is exactly what happens during what may rank among TV’s strangest love scenes—“love” being a term used loosely here—in Bupkis, Davidson’s new Peacock serieses based (again, loosely) on Davidson’s life.

The first episode, for example, is bookended by bonkers scenes of a sexual nature. It opens with Edie Falco, who plays Pete’s mother, walking in on Pete masturbating, and he accidentally ejaculates onto her chest. And it ends with this, let’s say…unconventional arrangement between Garrett and Davidson’s character.

When Pete finds out that his grandfather, Joe (played by Joe Pesci), is dying of cancer, he plans a “boys’ night” to cheer Joe up. In Pete’s mind, that translates to “book a fancy hotel room and hire a prostitute for his grandpa to have sex with.” Joe, much to Pete’s chagrin, brings along Roy (Garrett), whom Pete calls his uncle, even though they’re not technically related. Joe figures out what Pete’s plan is immediately—the second the escort arrives—and calls it off, leading to a much-needed heart-to-heart about their relationship.

<div class=”inline-image__credit”>Peacock</div>
Peacock
The escort joins them for the night as they bond, party, and, in a particularly moving scene, sing “This Magic Moment” around a piano, with Joe at the keys. It’s Roy who ends up sleeping with the prostitute, but just as Pete and Joe are about to leave the hotel suite, they hear Roy scream in pain. “It’s my hip dysplasia!” Roy moans, frozen mid-coitus. “My dog had that,” Joe replies.

Not wanting the night, or the sexual encounter, to end this way, Roy asks for Pete’s help. That is how Brad Garrett ended up starring in a sex scene, in which Pete Davidson is manipulating his hips back and forth to do the thrusting for him. “I feel like a Make a Wish kid!” Roy screams with glee.

Now that the episode is out and audiences have seen—and been traumatized by—the sequence, we wanted to chat with Garrett about the unusual nature of the scene, the surprising poignancy of the episode, and what he learned from Ray Romano on Everybody Loves Raymond that he also sees in Davidson.

I have to ask: Is this how you’ve always imagined working with Joe Pesci?

Joe Pesci has helped my sex life many times before this. You know, It’s kind of funny. I read the script and was like, well, they definitely have the wrong guy here. But I was so excited, obviously, to be able to work with Pesci and Edie and Pete. But, yeah, I had to get in my head to do this. I don’t ask to do many scenes like this. So I left with as little dignity as I could, just trying to get through it.

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What was your reaction when this sex scene was pitched to you?

I mean, I had my questions. But, to me, it was laugh-out-loud funny the first time I read it. And I knew it couldn’t be as edgy as the very first scene of the pilot [when Pete comes on his mom’s chest]. So I figured, as long as I don’t have to show my dumper, which looks like the relief map of Georgia, I’d be fine. That’s a good vision for you, Kevin.

Thank you for that.

That scene, when we’re all playing the piano out in the entry part of the suite, that’s something that just started as an improv. Pesci sat down at the piano, when we were waiting for the cameras to be set up. And he just started noodling on the piano and started singing, and we all just kind of joined in. It was, no pun intended, a magical moment.

This [was] my first scene I shot on this show, so I went catatonic going into this, but Joe just kind of started doing that scene, and we all started singing in and joining in. It was a great precursor to our relationship and who we were in the show, and it was really kind of cool and warm. And then I went right into that other scene.