Very light spoilers for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts lie ahead.
Pete Davidson has been making a splash in the entertainment industry since leaving SNL last year. The comedian has his own sitcom, Bupkis (which is streamable with a Peacock subscription), had a memorable role in 2022’s Bodies Bodies Bodies and starred alongside Kaley Cuoco in Meet Cute. However, nobody may have seen his hilarious role in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts coming. Davidson is getting tons of buzz for his role as Mirage, and the creative team behind the film apparently let him improvise some of his lines. However, one joke the actor made was nearly deleted from the film after Paramount executives thought it was too racy.
When director Steven Caple Jr. cast the comic in the latest Transformers movie, he probably should’ve known what he was getting. The star is known for his irreverent sense of humor and often crass approach to comedy. The filmmaker truly got the full “Pete Davidson Experience” when he started improvising while recording his lines for the movie, during which he made that racy joke. Caple revealed to USA Today that the quip was originally quite different, saying:
The original line was ‘Work friends? After all we’ve been through?’ which was cute. But Pete was giving all of these other reactions. And being Pete Davidson, he threw out the line, ‘Work friends? But you’ve been inside me.’ And we just cried laughing, like that was it, that’s the line. We have got to try this.
Said remark comes into play early on in the film when Anthony Ramos’ Noah Diaz attempts to downplay his relationship with Pete Davidson’s wise-cracking autobot. What Mirage is referring to in that moment is the fact that Diaz had been in the driver’s seat while the bot was in his vehicle mode.
While the joke may have been a tad spicy for a Transformers movie, it’s still incredibly clever and impressive that Davidson was able to come up with something so funny on the spot. It’s further evidence of just why the 29-year-old comedian has emerged as a true talent. Still, given the wide appeal of the franchise, one can see why Paramount execs wouldn’t have been so happy upon hearing it. While the joke was nearly cut, Steven Caple Jr. says that one thing saved it:
I’ll be honest, there were definitely moments where the studio didn’t want that joke in the movie. But we screened it (and) that line got the loudest laugh in the theater. We were like, ‘We gotta keep it now.’ If we hadn’t screened it, the joke probably would have been cut.
People have mixed feelings about test screenings, but they seemed to be invaluable in this case. While the joke may have made movie head honchos blush, general audiences thought it was hilarious, proving the Suicide Squad alum had the right instincts. And let’s be honest, there’s a long history of adult-leaning jokes being dropped into movies that appeal to kids. So if Shrek can have adult content, it’s probably okay for Transformers to push the envelope a little. (Plus, the OG Michael Bay films certainly had their share of racy gags.)
Some comedians have historically loved getting in a recording booth and riffing, so it’s unsurprising that the King of Staten Island star would have fun with the experience. Robin Williams famously ad libbed many of his lines when recording for his role as the Genie in Aladdin. Josh Gad also revealed he did some improvisation when in the studio for Frozen II. Sometimes the best stuff comes from trying a bunch of ideas and seeing what sticks, and this definitely seems to have paid off for Pete Davidson.
You can see his hilarious performance in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which is currently in theaters nationwide. For more information on other films headed to cinemas and streaming services later this year, make sure to consult our schedule of 2023 new movie releases.