TV 2 months ago

SNL's Melissa Villaseñor Takes Wiig's Spotlight

Discover how Melissa Villaseñor’s impressive Adam Sandler impression led to a memorable moment on SNL, sharing insights from her experience on the show.

Melissa Villaseñor once performed an impression of Adam Sandler so impressively that it inadvertently led to her taking over a role originally meant for Kristen Wiig on Saturday Night Live.

During a guest appearance on the Fly on the Wall podcast with former SNL cast members Dana Carvey and David Spade, Villaseñor recounted this incident while they discussed the nature of doing impressions on the show.

Spade expressed his frustrations, saying, "I usually got assigned only about one impression a year. The challenge with SNL is that you're often just handed material, and they say, 'You’ll be reading a sketch.' Then you find out you have to impersonate someone like Alec Baldwin in just a few pages."

When Carvey asked Villaseñor if she had experienced being assigned an impression, she confirmed it had happened, sharing her “favorite moment” during the May 4, 2019 episode hosted by Sandler. In the sketch, Sandler attends a family reunion where his relatives mimic characters he’s portrayed.

Villaseñor recalled, "I wasn’t initially included in the sketch, which was puzzling. The writers asked me, 'Could you read as Waterboy for Kristen Wiig? She's going to play Waterboy.'" Though she hesitated, she eventually agreed, since The Waterboy is her favorite Sandler film. "I nailed it at the table read because I love that movie. Then Lorne Michaels said, 'Yeah, let’s keep Melissa as Waterboy,' and I was thrilled!"

Villaseñor mentioned that she didn’t need to practice the impression ahead of time because of her long-standing love for the film. Wiig, on the other hand, ended up portraying a different character — Sandler’s mom — in the same sketch, which also included cameos from Jimmy Fallon, musical guest Shawn Mendes, and other cast members like Chris Redd, Mikey Day, Kyle Mooney, Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant, Kenan Thompson, Leslie Jones, Beck Bennett, and, of course, Villaseñor herself.

In the podcast, which reminisces about Carvey and Spade's favorite SNL moments, Villaseñor also discusses her six years on the show, her experiences with singing impressions, and more.

Listeners can watch the memorable sketch mentioned and tune into the complete Fly on the Wall episode for further insights.