So “Dave” got Brad Pitt and Drake for the Season 3 finale
Editor’s Note: The following contains major spoilers for the season 3 finale of Dave.
The hit FXX comedy dave is no stranger to attracting some superstar guests. Even before the show was an established favorite, Dave Burdaka Lil Dicky, used his connections and landed big names from the music industry and beyond Justin Bieber, Charlamagne the god, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, GunnaAnd marshmello among other. Season 3 went even further, however, when she reached the finale. colliders Steve Weintraub spoke to Burd to discuss how he managed to use his magic to win over all those A-listers and end the season with a bang.
Ahead of the final, Burd had a few things to be proud of when it came to his guests. Don Cheadle, Megan Fox, Machine gun Kelly, Demi Lovato, usher, Rachel McAdams, Emma Chamberlainand so many others were part of Dave’s out of control tour. Then the finale withdrew Brad Pitt And drakeone of Hollywood’s biggest stars for years Babylon And fast train and a modern day rap and R&B icon who is widely regarded as one of the most popular artists of all time. It may baffle neutral observers how big movie stars and rappers at the top of the world take the time to appear in a little FXX comedy, but Burd says the explanation is quite simple: “They just love the show.”
“See, people ask me, ‘How did you get all these people?’ And it’s like I really hate to say it, but — I don’t hate to say it, I’m honored.” to say it: They just love the show. I think that speaks to the awesomeness of the show that it doesn’t take any insane maneuvering to get these people to do it. They all just watch the show independently – Drake, Rachel McAdams, Brad Pitt – they love the show, they watch all the episodes. I’ve had encounters with Drake and he really speaks positively to me about how a huge fan he is of the show and that it’s one of the more important shows of our generation. And Brad Pitt, I heard he liked it too. I had never met him and I knew that “Oh Brad loves the show” [and] I was like, “Maybe there’s a gunshot here.” I sent a really thoughtful email that took days to write and got a really cool email back and he was in. Rachel McAdams, same offer; She watches the show with her husband and they love it.”
There is a method behind it daveis cameo madness
Burd wanted to make it clear that he didn’t choose his cameos simply because he admires them or because he thinks they would be fun to have on board. There’s a method to who he picks for the show, from McAdams to Pitt to Drake. dave tells the story of a white rapper on a quest for fame and fortune while battling his own emotional immaturity and stumbling onto bigger and bigger stages despite his weaknesses. Season 3 is a real “be careful what you want” as he steps into the limelight and moves away from some of his friends who helped him get there. Burd thought the introduction of these larger stars made sense since Dave is at his peak so far and has his sights set on the top of the mountain:
“They’re not just some celebrity who’s like, ‘I want you on me because you’re cool!’ Each of them is in a way representative of the main themes of the show because Rachel McAdams is, you know, the dream girl of our generation. She anchored some of the most important romantic plays in cinema for my entire generation. Brad Pitt is the pre-eminent exponent of Hollywood movie star, he is the greatest icon of our time in cinema in my opinion, and Drake is obviously the icon of music and hip-hop. And that goes for the themes too, so we have a feeling that all these characters don’t just come in and say, “Hey.” They just represent the top of these big thematic temples. When I’m working with Brad Pitt and giving him directions and seeing him trust me like he has to trust a Tarantino, you know? What I mean? It’s just a huge validation for me as a filmmaker to get that trust from these iconic pillars of entertainment, so it’s very rewarding to get them on board and then not have to do anything crazy to take them along, just made a show have that they all really love and respect.
The risks for dave Got bigger than the guest stars
As the guests for dave It got crazier and crazier, it was starting to reach a point where the writers were a little startled by Burd’s promises. With every moment he was given as with the Boston Dynamics robot, fears grew as episodes were written with big celebrities like Pitt in mind without hearing from them first. “I took a lot of risks this season and a lot of people in my writing room were like, ‘Man I hope you’re right that these people are just going to say yes,'” he told Weintraub. “People really thought I was — even in the writers’ room, they were like, ‘What are we doing writing this whole Brad Pitt episode without ever communicating with him?’ I just believed, and I was rewarded for my belief, and yes, it’s a chicken and egg thing.”
With music, however, things were a little different. As a true rapper, Burd’s work on music never stops and he’s always looking for suitable materials for the show. That was with the catchy “Mr. McAdams” verse was the case he wrote about the beloved lead in a romantic film that he already had on the bench. It inevitably worked like a charm when he actually managed to get McAdams on the season and put the verse to better use than he otherwise would have:
“I’m constantly working on the music between seasons. Sometimes I do a song that wasn’t written for the show, but I’m just like, ‘Man, this scene needs a good rap. This scene needs one.’ “Romantic song,” and sometimes I’m like, “Oh, that song I liked a year ago might actually work.” Obviously, the verse I wrote when I wrote it works without being attached to the TV show to think, not as well as if I rewrote the verse and it was like, “Robyn, you know what I mean?” And made it more about the specific themes of the season. So it’s a total chicken and egg thing and everything varies.”
The fact that dave is an aggravated semi-autobiographical series that fits his career perfectly. By keeping his nose to the grindstone of music, Burd is able to find uses for the music he creates that otherwise wouldn’t make it onto an album:
I’m lucky… Between seasons I work my ass off to make music, and often it’s not all for nothing in the sense that my fans are obviously pining for an album – and of course, I wish I could delivering that and I’m working as hard as I can — there’s a happy reality about this whole thing that the show is about a rapper and I can take a lot of the music I’ve made independently of the show and bring it up organic way into the show.
All episodes of dave Season 3 is now available on Hulu. Check out the trailer below. Stay tuned for more information on our interview with Burd.
