Marcello Hernández’s big debut in October 2022 has led him to be the 6th Latinx cast member to join Saturday Night Live. As the youngest cast member, he has creatively found a way to turn his Latinx identity into a fresh comedic perspective.
Hernández is Cuban-Dominican and grew up in Miami, Florida and started off his comedic fame through Tik Tok on the account @onlyinDade where he told weekly reviews on his hometown. Hernández’s comedy has come from his culture, family traditions, and poking fun at stereotypes. His casting on SNL has opened up a new way for others to view Latinx identity in a playful way. It also pushes for SNL to continue growing diversity in the comedy and entertainment sector.
Hernández’s first episode was on October 8, 2022 where he performed his very first “Weekend Update” during the Host Brendon Gleeson’s episode. In this segment, Marcello points out that Latino’s dominate baseball because it is so much more entertaining. He left the crowd laughing as he mixed cultural humor and sports, something he has been doing for a while. While Hernández may be recycling his old stand up jokes, the writers of SNL knew it was good enough for the big screen. In a Behind the Sketch interview Marcello breaks the idea of using his old material down.
It was the week of Major League Baseball Playoffs and the creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels “loves baseball” which led to Hernández performing the skit for them. While there was some back and forth between the creative liberties taken, it made it into the show. "We did it at the table, and it didn't do that great, because this isn't a show full of baseball fans”. Despite Michaels’ hesitation, he allowed Hernández to do the show supporting his comedic debut on SNL.
Since then, Marcello has been a part of many Weekend Update sketches including “Being a short King”, “Why Men are Depressed”, and as various characters like the New York Earthquake and Jose Suarez.
His most recent sketch on October 5, 2024 gained the heart of nostalgia and the attention of Don Fransico, host of TV show “Sábado Gigante." In this sketch a man (Nate Bargatze) who doesn't speak Spanish competes on a Spanish game show hosted by Chilean TV star Don Francisco (Marcello Hernández).
Don Francisco comments, “I thank SNL for bringing back memories of our Sabado Gigante, which was not only a great television program, but was also very important as a meeting point for the family and our Hispanic community. Thanks to the public, we closed our story almost 10 years ago, but we still feel the affection and respect for what we were able to build together."