Originally appeared on E! Online
Marcello Hernández isn’t quite ready to call it quits on Domingo — or any of his other signature “Saturday Night Live” characters.
“I’m there, I’m there, I’m there,” he exclusively reassured Justin Sylvester of “Live From E!: Critics Choice Awards” on the red carpet Jan. 4 at the 2026 Critics’ Choice Awards. (See all the stars in attendance.)
Cue the collective phew, especially following on the heels of Bowen Yang’s midseason exit last month.
But Hernández, who joined SNL in 2022, noted that he’s still having a great time, telling Sylvester, “I’m having fun, bro. It’s a crazy job and you get to meet so many crazy people — and I love it.”
It was hard to say farewell to Yang, but the 28-year-old comedian appreciates the level his now former cast mate rose to on every occasion.
“I look at it like sports,” Hernández explained. “That’s a guy who put up numbers. Consistent, always putting up big sketches and he had a distinct voice, and everybody loves him.”
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“It’s for a reason,” he added. “He’s a hard worker, I saw him behind the scenes grinding every week. It’s a guy to learn from, for sure.”
While Hernández, whose Netflix special “American Boy” premieres Jan. 7, wasn’t up for an individual award just yet, SNL is a Critics Choice Award nominee for Best Variety Series, while alum Ego Nwodim is up for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series following her exit from SNL after seven seasons.
Hernández is scheduled to present, and he was admittedly excited to see “so many people” at the ceremony being held at The Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif.
“I saw Rhea [Seehorn] from “Pluribus,” freaked out, I have my whole family on that right now,” he said. “Everybody, dude. It’s funny, you watch all these shows, my mom is a serial series watcher. So I’m trying to get a couple of selfies for her — I’m getting it done.”
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Marcello Hernández talks about auditioning for “Saturday Night Live” and selling tickets on the street for his stand-up shows before making his “Tonight Show” stand-up debut.
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