Finally First Latina on SNL!
The week is starting off on a great note!
Amazing news about Saturday Night Live casting its very first Latina regular and they picked a good one. Melissa Villaseñor a comedienne/impressionist from Whittier California, proved that talent and tenacity pays off (and a little help from advocacy groups like the Hispanic Foundation for the Arts lobbing for a Latina didn’t hurt) pays off. Villaseñor and Alex Moffat will and Mikey Day were selected as the three new on-camera additions to season 42 of SNL.
A self described comedian, impressionist, actress, musician and graphic artist, Villaseñor has been working it for the past 10 years. She was one of the finalist on season 6 of America’s Got Talent in 2011 doing her celebrity impressions to a standing ovation. She is also an established voice talent for Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time, and has also worked on Family Guy, Comedy Central’s Trip Tank, as well as headlined over 100 clubs and colleges around the country. So she has been busy making a name for herself.
Sharon Osbourne foretold the future when she said “Well Melissa I don’t think you will be working in retail much longer,” after her performance on America’s Got Talent.
A contributor to SNL creator Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video studio Màs Mejor, a comedy showcase for Latino talent was the right move for Villaseñor to showcase herself. Although the showcase was criticized by some as marginalizing Latinos, it obviously was the right path for Villaseñor who had previously auditioned for SNL and since has been sending them an audition tape every summer. Villaseñor is repped by CAA.
Saturday Night Live returns to NBC on Oct. 1 at 11:30 p.m. ET.
Benicio Del Toro in Talks to Star in Predator and On Board for Soldado
It’s not a done deal, but Benicio Del Toro is in talks to star in the Predator sequel for 20th Century Fox to be directed by Shane Black . For fans of the cult film Predator this can only mean good news! The Predator is set for release on February 9th 2018.
What is a done deal is Del Toro’s participation in Soldado, a follow-up to the 2015 film, Sicario which centers around the escalating war against drugs along the border of the United States and Mexico. The film will be shot in Mexico and is a coproduction of the Leone Film Group, Rai Cinema and Lionsgate. Italian helmer Stefano Sollima will direct Del Toro and Josh Brolin who is also set to star.
Sollima explained in an interview recently that the Soldado storyline will stand alone with the only similarity to Sicario being the two characters played by Del Toro and Brolin.
Del Toro who also recently finished shooting Star Wars: Episode VIII is repped by CAA, LBI Entertainment and Hansen, Jacobson.
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