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Dave Drops Oscar-Winning Guest Star (Who Raps!) Into Emmys Race With Season 3 Finale

Will the hit FX comedy finally snag its first nomination?

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers from “Looking for Love,” the season finale of FX’s “Dave,” now streaming on Hulu.

Brad Pitt was held hostage, rapped in autotune, shot with an arrow and revealed his “real name” is Luke — all during Wednesday night’s season finale of FX’s “Dave.” In fact, the Hollywood A-lister might bring the underrated dark comedy its first series nom after three seasons.

Playing himself, Pitt will be among the guest acting submissions for the dark comedy, Variety has learned exclusively.

Taking place on a night full of twists and turns, the 46-minute “Looking for Love” episode — directed by Kitao Sakurai and written by Dave Burd and Vanessa McGee — shows Dave being held hostage by a superfan who just wants to “hang out” with Pitt, an actor and aspiring rap star.

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It all starts when Pitt has a walk-on role in Lil Dicky’s music video, set up by his friend Rachel McAdams. Pitt then stops by Dave’s house, where the two are held hostage by a superfan named Bella (played by Tenea Intriago). At one point in the evening, after an unaware Gata stops by, Dave and Pitt are forced into a musical moment that stands as one of the year’s funniest TV scenes.

The show has unfortunately been overlooked by the Television Academy since debuting in March 2020. However, this season’s universal acclaim could put it within reach of a few races, such as guest acting and original music and lyrics. FX will also submit the track “Harrison Ave.” for Emmy’s consideration, which shares the second episode’s title.

When it comes to Pitt, he’s no stranger to awards recognition. In addition to his two Oscars for producing the best picture winner “12 Years a Slave” (2013) and supporting actor for “Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood” (2019), he’s also an Emmy winner as a producer on the TV movie “The Normal Heart” (2014).

However, despite two iconic acting noms, coincidentally both in guest comedy actor, Pitt has yet to take home an Emmy as a performer. His first came in 2002 for his stint on NBC’s “Friends” for playing Will, Monica and Ross’ former “fat” classmate who started a rumor about Rachel in high school. The other was in 2020 during the pandemic for “Saturday Night Live at Home,” with his hilarious portrayal of Dr. Anthony Fauci.

He won’t be the only Oscar nominee eyeballing an Emmy nom from “Dave.” Also playing herself, McAdams received an Academy Award nom for supporting actress for her role in the best picture winner “Spotlight” (2015), and she’ll seek her first Emmy mention for her three-episode stint this season. She’ll be competing alongside Jane Levy, who played Brittany Parker.

In the final three minutes of the episode, Dave travels to West Africa and meets rapper Drake (billed under his birth name Aubrey Graham) in a meet-up that has been years in the making. While the moment will go down as one of the series’ most memorable scenes, Drake — who is coming off his first Emmy nom as one of the producers for HBO’s “Euphoria” — won’t stand alongside Pitt in the Emmy race. Emmy rules prohibit cameo roles from competing, leaving the former “Degrassi” actor ineligible.

This season of “Dave” was full of surprising cameos and guest appearances, including Usher, Rick Ross, Demi Lovato, Don Cheadle, Machine Gun Kelly, Megan Fox, Killer Mike, Travis Barker, Jack Harlow, Lil Gotit, Emma Chamberlain, David Dobrik and Finneas O’Connell.

“Dave” Season 3 Emmy submissions

  • Outstanding Comedy Series
  • Lead Actor (Comedy) — Dave Burd
  • Supporting Actor (Comedy) — Gata
  • Guest Actor (Comedy) — Brad Pitt
  • Guest Actress (Comedy) — Rachel McAdams
  • Original Music and Lyrics — “Harrison Ave”

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