Hi, I’m Judd Apatow. And I’m the director and co-writer of ‘The King of Staten Island.’ This is a scene from early in ‘The King of Staten Island.’ That’s Maude Apatow, who is playing Pete’s sister Claire. And in this scene, she is about to leave for college the next day. And she’s giving her brother a set of paints to encourage him to pursue his tattooing dream more aggressively. “I know you’re into art, so I thought you could expand your horizons while I’m gone.” “You got a gift receipt for this?” But it’s also a guilt gift, because she’s leaving and on some level, abandoning him. So under the guise of being nice, she is bee-lining for the door. “Be nice to mom, O.K.? Don’t give her a hard time. She deserves a break.” “I always give her a break. When am I going to get my break? Like—” “What are you talking about? All anyone ever does is worry about you.” In this conversation, Pete’s character is really on to her. They know each other so well, and he knows this as a guilt gift. He knows she’s trying to get away from him. And he’s also guilty and insecure that he’s made her childhood difficult, because he’s taken up so much air in the room from all of his problems. “What are you going to do? Are you going to get a job? Or are you going to leave the house?” “I don’t know. I’m going to open that tattoo restaurant.” “No, like, for real.” “I am being real. It’s never been done before. I looked it up. I googled it. It’s never been done, not even as a joke.” “Because no one wants to go to a restaurant and watch people get tattooed while they eat. It’s gross.” “It’s the best idea ever. Ruby Tat-Tuesday’s, where everyone’s welcome — chicken and tattoos.” “What I like about this scene is it’s very real. It’s very tense. And yet, both the actor and the actress find a way to be really funny in showing how their relationship melts down. In the scene, they talk about how Scott thinks it was worse for him, because he got to know their dad. And it’s easier for her, because she was too young to have gotten to know him when he died. That’s something that Pete Davidson talked about that, that’s something that he debates with his sister. Who had it worse? And in a way, the scene is almost an apology to his real-life sister for not acknowledging how bad her pain was at times. We shot this scene over an entire day. We had rehearsed it a lot and done a lot of improvisations. One of the reasons why I wanted Maude to do it is she’s very alive and very present, and so is Pete. And I knew you would feel it in her eyes every moment that she loves him, but also, she’s so guilty about leaving the house.”
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
