Saturday Night Live an institution, and one of the best TV comedies of all time. The sketch comedy series (which is streaming with a Peacock subscription) regularly brings in new talent, and one of the most popular current members is Marcello Hernández, who went viral for playing Domingo in a recurring sketch. And the 28-year-old comedian recently shared why that character has meant so much to him... other than helping to make him famous.
Hernández's star power has been steadily growing recently, and aside from his work on SNL he recently appeared in Happy Gilmore 2 and released a stand-up special, both of which are streaming with a Netflix subscription. While appearing on the Fly on the Wall podcast, Marcello spoke about how that viral Domingo sketch influenced his career. In his words:
I can’t even dance in the impression. I think he’s retired now. It’s not mine [my sketch]. But I can’t say it didn’t alter the course of my life, Domingo.
Domingo debuted when Ariana Grande hosted Saturday Night Live in 2024, going viral partly because the pop star was purposefully singing off-key. Since then, it's returned four different times, with Hernández appearing towards the end of the sketch, and usually admitting he's been intimate with Chloe Fineman's Kelsey. The recurring sketch saw him meet Sabrina Carpenter and work with other stars like Charli XCX, Molly Shannon, and Martin Short.
While Hernández admits that this recurring bit on SNL changed his life, he was also happy with it for another, more personal reason. As he told hosts Dana Carvey and David Spade on the same podcast appearance:
He’s Latino. And it’s me and the janitor and the janitor has no experience. I like that they made him a doctor and a veterinarian. They gave him a good job. They didn’t do the Latina trope. I’m not like a sexy gardener, or something. I have a few jobs.
Points were made. Throughout his various appearances as Domingo, the character has mentioned having a number of different professions. And Marcello is happy that this viral character didn't turn into a negative stereotype of a Latin person. Because if he ended up being a trope like a gardener, the recurring sketch could have been potentially harmful to the community.
Unfortunately for fans of Domingo and Kelsey's story, it seems like that sketch has been retired. But the fact that it came back so many times in such a short time, including the SNL 50 event, shows just how popular it was. Now Marcello Hernández is a household name, and the sky's the limit on his career moving forward.
Fans can catch Marcello in new episodes of SNL as part of the 2026 TV schedule. Additionally, his stand-up special Marcello Hernández: American Boy is streaming now on Netflix. Having personally watched it shortly after its release, I can't recommend it enough.
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