Aside from some initial controversy over her old Twitter jokes, new Saturday Night Live cast member Melissa Villaseñor hasn’t been making a lot of waves–more often than not, she’s a background character who gets to say a line of dialogue really loudly for dramatic effect. But after tonight, we’ve got a  feeling that’s going to change.
The Octavia Spencer-hosted episode featured many of SNL‘s old standbys: Trump jokes, recurring characters on Weekend Update, and an attempt to create the next David Pumpkins with a new wacky/disturbed character named Chuckie Chocolate. But the best of the night was a bit celebrating the one-year release anniversary of Disney’s Zootopia, with Kenan Thompson as a voice-director casting substitutes for the celebrities to be cast in a Zootopia knock-off. It’s a variation on a bit they’ve also done with the likes of Bruno Mars and Ariana Grande, and basically just a set-up for all involved to deliver their best celebrity impersonations.
It started out with some standard ones: Alex Moffat as Hugh Grant, and Villaseñor as Jennifer Lopez. But then things got a little more pointed, as the actors started doing the voices and mannerisms of people they’ve actually worked with. Spencer nailed Viola Davis and Oprah Winfrey, while Thompson busted out a killer Tracy Morgan. But it was Villaseñor who stole the scene with dead-on imitations of Kate McKinnon and Kristen Wiig that encapsulated their entire ranges of characters. If she ever wants to do nu-Ghostbusters as a one-woman show, she probably could. Her Kathy Griffin and Julia Louis-Dreyfus were excellent as well, though she might have to work a bit on that Owen Wilson–which is kind of the joke.
We’re reminded of that first time Jay Pharoah did his Denzel Washington, and utterly slayed. Villaseñor will probably be doing a lot more impersonations in the future, and will probably be cast in an actual talking animal movie by the time you read this. What was your favorite voice that she did? Leave us your own impressions below.
