SNL casts first Latina comedian

The most exciting news to come out of Saturday Night Live’s cast announcement on Monday was that Melissa Villasenor is joining the show.

She joins the cast on Oct. 1 along with SNL writer Mikey Day and Maya & Marty performer Alex Moffat.

The 28-year-old is best known as a finalist on NBC’s reality talent show America’s Got Talent, where she won the audience’s hearts (and laughs) with her dead-on impressions of nearly anyone you can think of, including Owen Wilson. While her impressions will likely make her a good replacement for departing cast member Jay Pharaoh, they aren’t the only thing that makes her stand out.

The show has never featured a Latina performer in its 42 years on the air. Villasenor, who grew up in Whittier, Calif., and is of Mexican descent, is the first.

In an interview with the Daily Dot, Villasenor traced her start in entertainment to her all-girls high school, Ramona Convent in Alhambra, near Whittier.

“I did my high school talent show with a few impressions and that was when I felt it,” she told the Daily Dot. “It went so great that I realized, this is what I am supposed to be doing, at 15 years old”

Felix Sanchez, chairman of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, praised the hire in an interview with Fox News Latino.

“It shows that we’re making progress and that we are an important community that cannot be disregarded,” he told the outlet.

SNL has featured only two Latino performers: Fred Armisen, whose mother is from Venezuela and father is Japanese-German, and Horatio Sanz, who was born in Chile. Fans seemed pleased. “Thrilled by SNL’s newest cast member, the first Latina in decades,” tweeted one user. “Bout damn time,” tweeted another.