Melissa Villaseñor
Melissa Villaseñor (/ˌviːjəsɪnˈjɔːr/ VEE-yə-sin-YOR) is an American actress, stand-up comedian, impressionist, visual artist and singer. She is a cast member on Saturday Night Live, having joined in the forty-second season in 2016.[1] Her other credits include voice work on several episodes of OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes and Adventure Time and a contestant on the sixth season of America's Got Talent.
Melissa Villaseñor | |
---|---|
Villaseñor in Los Angeles, California in February 2012 | |
Born | Whittier, California, U.S. |
Medium | Stand-up, film, television, music, art |
Nationality | American |
Years active | 2010–present |
Website | melissavillasenor |
Early life
Villaseñor grew up in Whittier, California, and attended the Catholic Ramona Convent Secondary School in Alhambra, California.[2] She is of Mexican descent.[3][4] At fifteen, Villaseñor started stand-up at the Laugh Factory Comedy Camp in Hollywood, California.[5]
Career
Villaseñor was a semi-finalist in season 6 of America's Got Talent.[4] Previously, she was selected for the New Faces lineup in the 2010 Just for Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival. She has also done voice work for the animated shows Adventure Time, Family Guy and TripTank.[6] Villaseñor appeared on the second season of HBO's Crashing.[7]
Villaseñor also makes visual art and released her debut album Dreamer in October 2019.[8]
Saturday Night Live
Villaseñor was introduced as a featured player on the October 1, 2016, episode of SNL alongside Mikey Day and Alex Moffat.[9] Her debut was an impression of Sarah Silverman in the Family Feud: Celebrity Edition sketch.[9] Villaseñor is the second Latina cast member after Noël Wells, who is a quarter Mexican,[10] and the first Latina to be promoted to repertory status.[11] She was promoted to the cast of repertory players in season 44.[12]
She had previously auditioned for the show in 2009, when she was just 21 years old. She did a few impressions but was not hired that year. Instead, Nasim Pedrad and Jenny Slate were hired.[13]
Villaseñor also helped Rob Cantor create his viral "29 Celebrity Impressions, 1 Original Song" video to promote his album, Not a Trampoline; she sang impressions of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Björk.[14]
Personal life
After Villaseñor became a cast member of SNL in 2016, she deleted tweets she had previously written that some viewed as racist. Most of the tweets uncovered by media publications had been posted in 2010 and 2011. Villaseñor wrote tweets such as, "A bossy black lady at my temp looks exactly like steve erkel. Ugly". SNL and Villaseñor declined to comment on the alleged racism.[15][16][3]
Villaseñor has defended her tweets as "trying to be edgy," and said she didn't regret the deletions.[12] In 2018, she told Elizabeth Blair on Weekend Edition Saturday, "I'm flawed like everyone else, and yeah, I just wanted to make sure I was perfect."[12]
Celebrity impressions
Villaseñor describes herself as a comedian and impressionist.[17] She has performed various impressions for America's Got Talent, First Impressions, her YouTube channel, and SNL including Sarah Silverman[18], Elaine Quijano, Winona Ryder (as her character Joyce Byers from Stranger Things)[19], Barbara Walters[20], Natalie Portman[20], Owen Wilson[21], Jennifer Lopez[22], Kristen Wiig[23], Hillary Clinton[24], Gwen Stefani[25], Sonia Sotomayor[26], Whitney Cummings[27], Sia[28], Zooey Deschanel[29], Kate Micucci[30], Gloria Estefan[31], Miley Cyrus[4], Kathy Griffin[4], and Christina Aguilera[4], Sue Perkins[32], Wanda Sykes[33], Lady Gaga[34], Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez[35], Julia Louis-Dreyfus[36], Rachel Maddow[37], Kate McKinnon[36], Nicole Scherzinger [38], Gwen Stefani[39], Carmen Yulín Cruz[40], Maisie Williams (as Arya Stark from Game of Thrones)[41], and Ana Navarro.[42]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | The 41-Year-Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It[43] | Sara | |
2016 | Laid in America[4] | Ms. Hopkins | |
2018 | Ralph Breaks the Internet[44] | Taffyta Muttonfudge (voice) | Replaces Mindy Kaling |
2019 | Toy Story 4[45] | Karen Beverly (voice) | |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | America's Got Talent[4] | Herself/contestant | Semi-finalist |
2012 | Family Guy[43] | Nora Ephron (voice) | Episode: "Tom Tucker: The Man and His Dream" |
2012–16 | Adventure Time[43] | Various/Additional voices | 11 episodes |
2014–16 | TripTank[43] | Various (voice) | 4 episodes |
2015 | Pickle and Peanut[43] | Darla (voice) | Episode: "Francine/Cell Phone Tree" |
2016 | First Impressions[46] | Herself/contestant | Episode: "Yvette Nicole Brown" |
2016–present | Saturday Night Live[43][12] | Herself/various | 69 episodes |
2017 | F Is for Family[47] | Additional voices | 2 episodes |
2017–19 | OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes[12] | Various voices | 13 episodes |
2017 | The David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special | Additional voices | Television Special |
2018 | Crashing[7] | Herself | Episode: "NACA" |
2018 | Barry[48] | Waitress | Episode: "Chapter One: Make Your Mark" |
2018–19 | American Dad![47] | Various voices | 2 episodes |
2019 | Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee[49] | Herself | Episode: "Melissa Villaseñor" |
2020 | Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens[50] | Performer | Episode: Paperwork |
References
- Wilstein, Matt (September 12, 2016). "SNL's First Latina Cast Member Melissa Villaseñor Is an Impression Machine". The Daily Beast. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
- http://www.metro.us/entertainment/tv/snl-melissa-villasenor
- Blay, Zeba (September 23, 2016). "First 'SNL' Latina Cast Member Caught Deleting Racist Tweets". HuffPost. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
- Andrews, Travis M. (September 23, 2016). "Melissa Villaseñor, of 'America's Got Talent' fame, becomes SNL's first Latina cast member". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- Staff. "Melissa Villasenor". USA Network. USA Network. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
- Slead, Evan (September 12, 2016). "Who is Melissa Villaseñor? Get to know SNL's newest cast member". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
- White, Chad (February 26, 2018). ""NACA" Crashing Review". C+ Comedy. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- Contreras, Felix; Garsd, Jasmine (January 10, 2020). "SNL's Melissa Villaseñor on the Pop Punks and Pop Divas That Inspired Dreamer". NPR. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
- Evans, Greg (October 2, 2016). "'SNL' Surprise: Newcomers Mikey Day, Alex Moffat & Melissa Villaseñor Actually Make Good, Strong Impressions". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- https://www.laweekly.com/snl-hires-its-first-latina-cast-member-and-shes-from-l-a/ LA Weekly
- Villafañe, Veronica (September 30, 2016). "SNL Starts New Season With Debut Of First Latina Cast Member, Latino Writer And Lin-Manuel Miranda". Forbes. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
- Blair, Elizabeth (September 29, 2018). "A Top Impressionist, Melissa Villaseñor Is Finding Her Own Voice On 'SNL'". NPR. Weekend Edition Saturday. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- "Ep 12 - Comedy and Depression | SNL's Melissa Villasenor". YouTube. The Gray Escape. March 10, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- "29 Celebrity Impressions Music Video Was a Hoax; Singer Reveals 'Making Of' Video". yahoo.com. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "'SNL's' Latina Cast Member Controversy: Melissa Villaseñor Deleted Racist Tweets". IndieWire. September 24, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- Jones, Marcus (September 22, 2016). "The First Latina "SNL" Cast Member Has Been Deleting Offensive Tweets". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- "Impressions". melissavillasenor.com.
- "Meet the New 'SNL' Castmembers: Who are Mikey Day, Alex Moffat and Melissa Villasenor?". The Hollywood Reporter.
- "Stranger Things – SNL". Saturday Night Live. October 9, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2017 – via YouTube.
- America's Got Talent (June 7, 2011). "Celebrity Impressions - Melissa Villasenor - America's Got Talent Audition - Season 6" – via YouTube.
- Más Mejor (February 10, 2016). "Owen Wilson - Daily Itineraries ft. Melissa Villaseñor" – via YouTube.
- Más Mejor (June 8, 2016). "Jennifer Lopez - Daily Itineraries ft. Melissa Villaseñor" – via YouTube.
- Más Mejor (May 25, 2016). "Kristen Wiig - Daily Itineraries ft. Melissa Villaseñor" – via YouTube.
- Más Mejor (January 20, 2016). "Hillary Clinton - Daily Itineraries ft. Melissa Villaseñor" – via YouTube.
- Más Mejor (January 27, 2016). "Gwen Stefani - Daily Itineraries ft. Melissa Villaseñor" – via YouTube.
- Más Mejor (February 3, 2016). "Sonia Sotomayor - Daily Itineraries ft. Melissa Villaseñor" – via YouTube.
- Melissa Villaseñor (March 9, 2015). "Whitney Cummings has caught me! - Melissa Villaseñor" – via YouTube.
- Melissa Villaseñor (February 9, 2015). "Sia Impression" – via YouTube.
- Melissa Villaseñor (January 5, 2011). "Zooey to the rescue!!! - Melissa Villasenor" – via YouTube.
- Melissa Villaseñor (August 24, 2015). "Kate Micucci Impression" – via YouTube.
- Melissa Villaseñor (September 7, 2015). "Gloria Estefan Impression" – via YouTube.
- "Great British Bake Off – SNL". Saturday Night Live. October 15, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2017 – via YouTube.
- "Bedroom – SNL". Saturday Night Live. February 28, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2017 – via YouTube.
- "Celebrity Family Feud: Super Bowl Edition – SNL". Saturday Night Live. February 5, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2017 – via YouTube.
- "Morning Joe - Wedding – SNL". Saturday Night Live. December 1, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2019 – via YouTube.
- "Zoo-opolis Voice Actors – SNL". Saturday Night Live. March 5, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2017 – via YouTube.
- "2020 Democratic Debate – SNL". Saturday Night Live. November 24, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2020 – via YouTube.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
- "Masked Singer – SNL". Saturday Night Live. December 21, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2020 – via YouTube.
- "Celebrity Family Feud: Time Travel Edition – SNL". Saturday Night Live. February 28, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2017 – via YouTube.
- "The Chaos President – SNL". Saturday Night Live. September 30, 2017. Retrieved October 3, 2017 – via YouTube.
- Truitt, Brian (May 5, 2019). "SNL' pits 'Avengers: Endgame' vs. 'Game of Thrones' on hilarious 'Family Feud'". USA Today. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
- "The View: Jenny McCarthy on Vaccines – SNL". Saturday Night Live. April 4, 2019. Retrieved January 24, 2020 – via YouTube.
- Jones, Adrienne (September 12, 2016). "SNL Just Added Two More Brand New Cast Members". Cinema Blend. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- Desta, Yohana (November 21, 2018). "Ralph Breaks the Internet's Cast List Is Full of Fun, Surprising Easter Eggs". Vanity Fair. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- DeBruge, Peter (June 13, 2019). "Film Review: 'Toy Story 4'". Variety. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
- "Melissa Villaseñor". USA Network. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
- Haring, Bruce (June 14, 2018). "SNL's Melissa Villaseñor Signs With WME". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- Serota, Maggie (March 26, 2018). "HBO's Barry Plays on the Subtler Charms of Bill Hader". Spin. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- Guzmán, Rafer (July 19, 2019). "'Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee' review: Affable entertainment from Jerry Seinfeld and pals". Newsday. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- Ferguson, LaToya (December 2, 2019). "Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens in Comedy Central's Official Trailer". Indie Wire. Retrieved May 10, 2020.