'Recipe for disaster': Pete Davidson's friends worry about his mental health as actor set to play Joey Ramone
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: The former 'Saturday Night Live' star Pete Davidson will be starting on screen as the punk godfather Joey Ramone. The 29-year-old is expected to begin filming his Netflix music biopic 'I Slept With Joey Ramone' based on a memoir by Ramone's brother Mickey Leigh, who will also serve as an executive producer on the project. However, Davidson's friends fear his "demons" could return as he begins preparations for the punk rocker role.
There are concerns over the pressures that come with the role given Pete’s past mental health struggles. Davidson has a prolonged history of mental health issues, rooted from his father's demise. He was just seven years old when he lost his firefighter dad Scott Davidson in the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers. Following the incident, the star has also struggled with suicidal thoughts. In 2016 he was diagnosed with Crohn's disease and in 2017, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with "borderline personality disorder."
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"Pete was interested in this role because it allows him to tap into the tragedies of his own life for more than just laughs or cringe moments," a source told The Sun. Davidson will be starring as the leader of the pioneering punk band. His friends also suggested that Davidson is taking on the role because he wants to make a name in the film industry. “Now that he's off SNL he has his future to think about. Pete is taking on this project because he wants respect in the acting business, plain and simple," remarked the source.
(Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue )
“But going so deep down this hole is risky, especially with everything Pete is juggling at the moment." Davidson recently broke up with his reality star girlfriend Kim Kardashian and is currently being linked to top model Emily Ratajkowski. "Pete has put himself under serious pressure since he left Saturday Night Live and this is by far his biggest challenge yet," reported the source. “But even with all his success he still acts like he has everything to prove." “Quite frankly, it's a recipe for disaster.”
Late punk icon Joey born Jeffrey Ross Hyman in New York was the frontman of the Ramones band. At the age of 18, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He first arose as the singer of glam-punk avatars Sniper in 1972, then became the face of the Ramones from 1974 until their disbandment in 1996. The leather jacket-donning Ramon however spent his professional life espousing the thrills of sniffing glue and spouting comically nihilistic barbs.
In the midst of his drug addiction, he was also diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder followed by a seven-year battle with lymphoma that eventually took his life at age 49, in April 2001. Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and Tommy – the original Ramones, all deceased, never achieved million-seller status for any of their 14 albums or individual solo projects. Yet the Ramones were considered one of the strong pillars of the 70s in the history of rock music. The movie was announced on April 15 last year, on the 20th anniversary of Joey’s tragic death.