‘Saturday Night Live’ Star Marcello Hernández on Reggaeton, Self-Help, and, Of Course, Domingo

There may be no man on earth with stronger “golden retriever energy” than Marcello Hernández. Just three seasons into his tenure on Saturday Night Live, the sparky 27-year-old has become a clear fan favorite—especially since debuting the smooth-talking, goateed philanderer Domingo last fall.

Yet in conversation, Hernández is a far cry from his lascivious alter-ego, extoling his childhood friends from Miami (“I usually like to be with my closest friends whenever I can—kids I grew up with”) and poking fun at his failures to practice self-care (“Managing stress feels like something only your parents can do by drinking tea or something”). He is also a loud and proud mama’s boy. “I want to make a lot of money so I can buy my mom something crazy,” he says. And then, because he can’t resist a bit: “I want to tell my mama, ‘Hey, mama, look at what I got you: MOVE! THAT! BUS!’”

Ahead of SNL’s return on January 18, Hernández spoke with Vogue about his reading habits, showing up at a Sabrina Carpenter concert in character, and what’s next for Domingo.

Vogue: This is your third season now. What’s been your biggest takeaway from the last three years?

Marcello Hernández: I’ve had jobs that I didn’t like and I did them for not a long time, and it felt like an eternity. And this job I like, so it has felt like it’s gone by pretty fast.

What’s the worst job you had?

I used to have a sales job that I used to work from my mom’s house during the pandemic. It’s not that it’s a horrible job at all, it’s just that I always wanted to be a comedian, and then I had a headset on.

Marcello Hernández on Late Night With Seth Meyers.

Photo: NBC/Getty Images

How do you manage the stress of a very fast-paced, high-profile job?

I don’t know, truly. Sometimes I get home from writer’s night and play a little bit of FIFA on my Xbox, and then I feel like I’m in a different world for a second. I’ve also been working on listening to audiobooks. Managing stress feels like something only your parents can do, by drinking tea or something. And then now, to think about doing it…it’s stressful to think about what you’re doing to manage stress.

What audiobooks do you like to—?

I like to dance.

You like to dance?

I like to dance. I like to listen to music and dance. I like to listen to reggaeton and dance. I like to listen to salsa and dance. I like to listen to merengue and dance. I’m sure Bad Bunny’s new album is going to give me some ammunition to dance.

What books have you read lately?

I’m listening to Atomic Habits. Oh my God, it’s so funny. I don’t know why I’m sharing with you that I’m listening to these books. [He chuckles.] I’m listening to 12 Notes by Quincy Jones, and I did listen to Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. That was a really good one for me.

Are you into the self-help genre?

I don’t like the term “self-help.” I think that every book you read should help yourself. People go, “Oh, you like self-help?” And what they’re really asking is, “So, you are in need of help, my friend? Are you struggling to live day to day?” I just want to read! I want to learn some stuff! I think that those Harry Potter or Hunger Games books probably helped a lot of people escape from stuff they were going through. So I think everything can be self-help. You know what’s self-help for me? Reggaeton music, so I can dance!

Hernández as Bad Bunny.

Photo: NBC/Getty Images

I know that you used material about your college Spanish class from your stand-up for a sketch with Ana de Armas. How do you decide what to borrow from your life for SNL?

I don’t mean this, but I do think that it would be funny to answer this with: “My life is a movie.” But honestly, I started doing stand-up when I was 18. It’s the one thing that I’ve really worked at over the years before I got to SNL, so those jokes are my babies, my savings account, the stuff that I lean on. You want to make the host feel good, and because the host is usually promoting a major project, it’s a big moment in their life. It feels special to work with them on something that I worked hard on. Those stand-up bits are one thing when they’re a stand-up bit, and then when I sit with a writer from SNL and morph it into a sketch, that’s a process. It’s not like I’m just taking these bits and writing them myself—I’m taking an idea and then I’m sitting down with these writers and they’re helping me make that a sketch. They are different formats.

Do you have a favorite sketch that you’ve contributed to?

When I used to score a goal [in soccer] I thought it was really cool to not celebrate. I thought it was really cool to just walk back like a psychopath and look at the other players, like, I don’t even remember what just happened. I try to apply something like that to my work now, and not pick favorites or get too involved in the past, because then the future can seem sad. But that being said, Pedro [Pascal] and Bad Bunny was a crazy moment that I look back on fondly.

There are so many memorable sketches on the show, but I feel like I haven’t seen something blow up quite the way Domingo did in a while. How has the reaction been for you?

You have to just give credit to those writers, man. They created all of the stuff that surrounded Domingo, and then by the time I come out, the audience is like, Who is this guy? It really feels like a credit to Jimmy Fowlie, Ceara O’Sullivan, Sudi Green, and Allie Levitan because I was just brought in to end the sketch, and I sang a little piece of a song, and next thing I know I have people that I haven’t talked to in years calling me and telling me, “I am Domingo!”

Actually, we all went together to the Sabrina Carpenter concert. I brought the writers to LA so that we could be at the concert together, and it was a beautiful moment between us. It’s so crazy that something that started off in a little office at 30 Rock could end up at The Forum. It was a really cool moment. I’m grateful for the writers and grateful for Domingo.

Would you ever want to do something more with Domingo? SNL has had so many spinoff movies.

One thing I know about Domingo is that he goes with the flow. Domingo does not force. You know what I mean? Domingo lets situations unravel, and I think that I’m going to have to channel Domingo on this one.

This conversation has been edited and condensed.