Kenan Thompson, Mikey Day, and Marcello Hernandez aren’t the only current Saturday Night Live cast members debuting commercials this Super Bowl Sunday.
First-year featured player Jeremy Culhane is appearing in his own social-first Super Bowl spot for sports beverage Electrolit.
The just-released commercial pairs Culhane with world No. 1 women’s tennis player Aryna Sabalenka. He plays a superfan of the court star, who spots her getting into an elevator at a hotel and races up multiple flights of stairs to catch her.
When he finally does catch up with her, she notes, “You look sweaty,” and offers him a bottle of Electrolit. “Really?” he asks before happily downing the drink.
The minute-long ad closes with a nod to Sabalenka’s love of fun, spontaneous moves that often go viral online, when Culhane asks if she wants “to do a dance” with him—and she agrees. Cut to the duo cutting loose on social media.
A rep for Electrolit tells LateNighter the brand sought out Culhane after seeing him on SNL, where his star has been on the rise since his breakout “Pinwheel” sketch in early November. The commercial was shot in December at New York’s St. Regis Hotel.
A veteran of Upright Citizens Brigade and Dropout, Culhane came to SNL with more on-camera experience than most, having booked recurring roles on The Sex Lives of College Girls, American Vandal, and the TV adaptation of Heathers.
Though only a few seconds of Culhane’s Electrolit dance with Sabalenka appear in the spot itself, the brand has released a longer clip of the duo’s delightful moves to—where else?—social media:
