Marcello Hernández

Hernández grew up in Miami, Florida, where he attended Belen Jesuit Preparatory School. His mother, Isabel Cancela, is of Cuban descent and his father, Joaquin Hernández, is Dominican.^[4][5] His maternal grandfather was Spanish.^[6] Hernández's parents separated before he turned five years old,^[7] and his mother later married media executive and former Miami-Dade County mayoral candidate José Cancela.^[8] He has a younger sister named Isabella and two older step-siblings through Cancela,^[8] including former Nevada State Senate member Yvanna Cancela.^[9]

In 2014, while playing for the Wolverines, Belen's boys soccer team, Hernández was named first-team, all-Miami Dade.^[10] He also trained with the U15 Dominican Republic National Team.^[10]

He graduated from John Carroll University in 2019 with a degree in entrepreneurship and communication. While at JCU, he participated in the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute, received the John J. Reardon '59 memorial scholarship for outstanding performance in theatre, and was recognized as an outstanding delegate at the Model United Nations Arab League Conference at the Georgetown University.^[5]

As a freshman, he joined Blue Streaks, JCU's men's soccer team, in 2015 and played seven games.^[10] He was positioned as a midfielder for the 2016 season but quit the team after three games to pursue comedy.^[10]

Hernández did comedy and performed short-form pieces on social media channels, such as the weekly review show (Only in Dade) about Miami, on TikTok.^[11] He moved to New York City in 2019 to pursue his stand-up career.^[12] In 2022, he was selected for Just for Laughs New Face of Comedy.^[1][13]

In 2022, he joined the cast of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, becoming the show's first Gen Z cast member.^[14] He is known for playing the recurring characters including Domingo, the paramour of Kelsey, a philandering bride played by Chloe Fineman; Grant, one half of "The Couple You Can't Believe Are Together," who appears on the Weekend Update to give dating advice alongside Alyssa, played by Jane Wickline; The Movie Guy, a Weekend Update character who teases upcoming movies before admitting that he has not seen them; and Joaquín Antonio González Hernández Suárez, host of The Immigrant Dad Talk Show.^{[15][16][17][18]} In the October 5, 2024 episode, SNL featured a parody sketch of Spanish-language show Sábado Gigante, with Hernández portraying Don Francisco. The sketch received praise from Francisco, who thanked the show and Hernández "for bringing back memories of our Sábado Gigante."^[19] In November 2025, Hernández portrayed Sebastian Maniscalco in an SNL parody and was praised by Maniscalco for doing a "fantastic job."^[20]

In January 2026, Hernández released his first stand-up special, American Boy, on Netflix.^[21]

Hernandez is in a relationship with Ana Amelia Batlle Cabral, a Yale graduate and architect from the Dominican Republic.^[22]

• List of Saturday Night Live cast members