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Oscar Isaac hosted the recent episode of Saturday Night Live, and his opening monologue is one of the best the show has ever had. The 42-year-old joins a shortlist of Latinos who have had the opportunity to host the show, and the Guatemalan/Cuban’s monologue was a tribute to Latinos in entertainment.
The poised actor stood on the famous stage as he introduced himself. “My name is Oscar Isaac, but my full name is Oscar Isaac Hernandez Estrada,” he said proudly. “I said to Hollywood - I said to them, ‘you can pick two of these names. Guess what they went with? The white ones,” he quipped.
As the push for representation in Hollywood is at its height, there are more opportunities for people of color. But for years, Latinos in entertainment were pressured to use a different name in the industry. Take the Mexican-American Richie Valens for example, who was born Richard Steven Valenzuela.
Isaac continued his monologue, “I’m half Guatalemon, half Cuban… Casting directors call that, ‘ethnically ambiguous.’“ “According to them, I can play anything from a pharaoh to Timothee Chalamets daddy.” While casting has changed in recent years, with pressure for productions to use actors that are actually the race, sexual orientation, etc of the characters they are playing, Isaac’s testimony is one that many actors like Rita Moreno will attest to.
In 2013 the Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for it star told NPR “I became the house ethnic.” “And that meant I had to play anything that was not American. So I became this Gypsy girl, or I was a Polynesian girl, or I was an Egyptian girl,” she explained. They would even darken Moreno’s skin for certain roles.
Isaac’s appearance on SNL is also a beam of hope for young artists who want to pursue their dreams in the entertainment industry. After showing hilariously adorable clips of the movie “The Avenger” which Isaac made when he was just a kid the actor explained, “It’s important to encourage kids to be weirdos, because every once in a while, one of those weirdos grows up to host SNL.”
SNL has received criticism in the past for its lack of representation when it comes to Latino writers, actors, and hosts. In 2015, Huffington Post reported that just 19 out of the 790 episodes that had aired were hosted by a Latino. And after 41 years, the show introduced its first Latina cast member Melissa Villaseñor, in 2016, and she is currently the only Latino cast member. Hopefully, we will continue to see more Latino representation in Hollywood. Watch Isaac’s full monologue below.