A date and title has been set for Marcello Hernández ‘s debut comedy special.
Netflix will release Marcello Hernández: American Boy, globally on Wednesday, January 7.
The Saturday Night Live star—now in his fourth season, and perhaps known best to the general public for his recurring “Domingo” character—first revealed he was prepping a Netflix special while out on tour last May. While it’s his first standalone TV showcase, Hernández is a seasoned comic. After moving to New York to further his stand-up career in 2019, he joined SNL just months after performing at Montreal’s Just For Laughs Festival in 2022.
In Netflix’s American Boy, Hernández will cover his upbringing as a first-generation American, born to a mother who immigrated from Cuba and father who immigrated from the Dominican Republic. While the comedian has riffed on his upbringing in sketches and Weekend Update appearances on SNL, his background was thrown into an unexpected spotlight on Friday when President Donald Trump’s White House posted a video implying Hernández was an illegal immigrant.
The Netflix special was taped across two performances Hernández gave in his hometown of Miami, Florida, in September.
“This hour is my whole life, you know? It’s my baby. It’s my wedding,” he told Esquire over the summer, calling it “a fun love letter to my upbringing and my family.”
Hernández reiterated what the Netflix special means to him upon today’s announcement. “I started comedy at 18 in Cleveland, Ohio at dive bars, small clubs, and poetry slam rooms,” he wrote on Instagram. “10 years later, stand up has given me everything.” He went on to thank anyone who has “ever been to a show, put me on a show, given me advice, or supported me in any way.”
American Boy is just one of the projects Hernández has had in the works lately—including several for Netflix. He’s set to play a “major supporting role” in the new Kevin Hart movie 72 Hours for the streamer, and also appeared in Netflix’s smash success Happy Gilmore 2. On Thanksgiving, it was revealed Hernández had joined the cast of Shrek 5 as the voice of Fergus, one of Shrek’s sons.
