Pete Davidson put in some blue contacts, threw on a wig, and somehow emerged looking like the guy you absolutely do not want making prolonged eye contact with you on the subway.
It all went down when Davidson was photographed on August 25 in costume for his new movie, Tommy Karate, in which he plays notorious, martial arts-trained Bonanno crime family enforcer Thomas "Tommy Karate" Pitera.
Take a look for yourself:
Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images; U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
In the photo, Davidson’s shaggy dark wig seals the deal, taking the SNL alum straight into “definitely knows a guy” territory. But the unsettling makeover makes a lot more sense once you know who Pitera actually was.
Need a closer and creepier look? Check it out:
Born in 1954, Pitera became a made man and enforcer for the Bonanno crime family in the 1980s. Law enforcement suspected him of as many as 60 murders, earning him a reputation as a sadistic psychopath and mob serial killer.
So, not exactly a cuddly character.
And “Tommy Karate” was surprisingly literal. Pitera trained in martial arts in Japan as a young man and later used those skills in fights. Sometimes a nickname just writes itself.
Pitera was arrested in 1990 for murder, drug trafficking and other racketeering crimes. He is currently serving a life sentence at United States Penitentiary Allenwood in Pennsylvania. Based on Philip Carlo’s book The Butcher: Anatomy of a Mafia Psychopath, the film is a passion project Davidson co-wrote and is currently filming in New York and Atlanta.
So, yeah, the casting department was probably not going for “warm and approachable” with this one.
And judging by the reactions online, mission accomplished:
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No word yet on whether the real-life Pitera approves of Davidson’s new look. Davidson, meanwhile, is all in on Tommy Karate, serving as a producer and co-writer. Back in March, he described the project as a "dream job."
Calling it “the greatest mob story never told,” Davidson told Deadline:
"I’ve been working on this for over three years, and I’m beyond thrilled that it’s finally in motion... We have a great team behind this one, and I can’t wait for people to see what we’ve come up with."
This is clearly a darker lane for Davidson, but since he helped write the screenplay, there’s always a chance some of his trademark humor made it in too. If you had “Pete Davidson transforms into a martial-arts-trained mob killer” on your 2026 bingo card, congratulations.
So, verdict time: Is Davidson giving convincing mob enforcer, or are you still stuck on the wig?
@thekalenallen/Threads
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