I’ve come to expect very little from NBC’s longtime staple, Saturday Night Live. In a completely bonkers election season where the biggest SNL moment so far wasn’t even by a cast member (again), the show has a lot of ground to make up after the summer hiatus.
With the departure of Jay Pharoah, the SNL cast was decidedly more vanilla as season 42 loomed. Luckily, Lorne Michaels delivered—sort of.
Melissa Villaseñor was announced Monday as a featured player, along with two white dudes (sigh). It's unsurprising that it took more than three decades to get a second Latina in cast of the comedy powerhouse, but today we celebrate. (And thank Noël Wells for showing that it's possible.)
To welcome Villaseñor to 30 Rock and into America’s heart, I found seven of her best clips—impressions, stand-up and skits. She will make her debut on Oct. 1.
So, settle in and get cozy. Here's Villaseñor's video with some of her favorite impressions, including Ash Ketchum and Björk.
In one of her signature impressions, Villaseñor plays actor Owen Wilson at Christmas.
In this stand-up clip, Villaseñor talks about growing up Mexican, but not feeling completely Mexican because she can’t speak Spanish.
I mean, Frida Kahlo is a tremendous painter, but everyone has to shake things up.
In her series for Más Mejor, Villaseñor maps out the daily plans of famous people to hilarious results. So what exactly does Jennifer Lopez do with her time?
Join Logan and Janelle to shit talk at your favorite coffee shop. (This clip features L.A.-based comedian Whitney Rice.)
And to close it out, here's Villaseñor talking about the perils of dating as a woman who disowned dresses and has a low voice. It's a lot funnier than I made that sound, I swear.
Caitlin is the associate features editor at Fusion. Prior to Fusion, she worked on features and national affairs at Talking Points Memo and completed an investigative fellowship at The Seattle Times. Will listen to any and all Grey's Anatomy theories.