As the only Latino cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” the expectation was that Marcello Hernández would be busy during Bad Bunny’s episode.
And sure enough, that’s exactly what happened.
The Miami-born comedian was featured prominently throughout the night, and even starred in three Spanish-laden skits alongside the “Monaco” Latin trapper.
The first of these was “The Age of Discovery,” a bit in which Bad Bunny and Hernández play a king and prince, respectively, unimpressed by a duo of explorers (Mikey Day and Fred Armisen) who have returned from the new world.
Hernández’s Spanish skills were also put to good use in “Telenovela,” a sketch that featured a surprise cameo from Mick Jagger— the Rolling Stones front man played the patriarch of two feuding brothers in the telenovela “El Pasión de las Padillas.”
But the buzziest of the skits starring Hernández featured the
return of Pedro Pascal’s portrayal of the quintessential overbearing Latina mom, a character first introduced last season in an episode that earned the “Last of Us” actor an Emmy nomination.
In the sketch, Hernández subjects his latest non-Latina girlfriend (Chloe Toast) to the scrutiny of his mother and his tía (Bad Bunny). The judgmental señoras express their disapproval in Spanish to maintain a level of secrecy, but throw in enough English to let her know that they’re absolutely throwing shade.
If Pascal’s character feels true to life, that’s because it is. Hernández appeared on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” earlier this month and said it was inspired by his own mother. The comedian also revealed that he got the chance to write the sketch because the “Mandalorian” star wanted to do something in Spanish — an opportunity for which Hernández remains grateful .
“Pedro, my second mom: Thank you, I love you,” he told Myers.