Marcello Hernández is proudly Latino and hails from Miami. His experience growing up in Miami-Dade County has inspired his work on Saturday Night Live including the “Night Club Line” sketch with Jason Momoa and his Cuban Mom was the inspiration behind the “Protective Mom” sketch with Pedro Pascal. In fact, he told Variety, his mom is his “muse.”
When Pedro Pascal, The Mandolorian and The Last of Us star, came to host SNL, Hernández told Variety, “Pedro is Latino like I am, so obviously I wanted to build the relationship somehow with him.” And lucky for him, Pascal felt the same way. “All I did was go in and say, ‘It would be great to do something with Marcello, and, I don’t know, be his protective mother or something,’” recalled Pascal. This destined duo would go on to create the iconic and hilarious sketch that captures the cultural and generational differences between him and his loving mother, played by Pedro Pascal, when he introduces his white girlfriend to her. The season 48 sketch was soon followed by a sequel, “Protective Mom 2” where Bad Bunny joins Pascal and plays Hernández’s protective aunt.
Watch Marcello Hernández’s “Protective Mom” SNL Sketches
Growing up in Miami, a city known for its nightlife, Hernández says, “you grow up fast, because there’s so much clubbing that people are doing.” “Miami is like a ‘fake ID, go when you’re 17’ kind of place.” This club culture made its way into Hernández’s “Nightclub Line” sketch with Kenan Thompson and Jason Momoa who reminds him of the “sexy” bouncers from back home. In the sketch Hernández is a promoter training the new bouncer (Jason Momoa) on how to turn away “ugly” people and only let the “pretty” people into the club. The way Hernández and Momoa played their roles incredibly earnestly has the studio and at home audiences cackling.
Watch Marcello Hernández’s “Nightclub” SNL Sketch
Hernández’s experience of living with a “baby-face” also inspired the “baby-face” rap that was a part of Timothee Chalamet’s monologue where Hernández came out to accompany the Oscar-nominated actor. Both somewhat known for their youthful, boyish appearance, made the audience cheer as they sang, “I got a baby face / But my hips don’t lie / Say I’m a bad kid, bitch, I’m a bad guy.”
However, this is probably the most crude he will go as the comedian says he wants to refrain from “super vulgar comedy.” When starting his relatively clean career in college, Hernández met stand-up comedian Sean Patton who told the young Hernández to “Go to New York once a season. Go once in the winter, go once in the fall and once in the spring.” Hernández recalls Patton telling him, “Make sure they remember you.” Hernández followed through until the pandemic hit and the comedian turned to TikTok making hilarious and successful Miami related content. After covid restrictions were lifted, Hernández returned to New York and booked SNL.
Click right here to get the latest comedy news delivered to your inbox!
Follow 800 Pound Gorilla News on Instagram, Twitter, & Threads.
