Actor and film producer Oscar Isaac made his big debut as host of Saturday Night Live on March 5. After the show announced Isaac was scheduled to appear, we were all looking forward to seeing the renowned actor, who has earned fame for his more serious roles, in a more relaxed tone.
Isaac, whose full name is Oscar Isaac Hernandez Estrada, was born in Guatemala and is of Guatemalan and Cuban descent. During his monologue, he recounted that he had been invited before to host the famous show in 2015. Isaac joked and said he had not accepted because he preferred to do it “after the pandemic.” At the time, the famous actor was enjoying the spotlight after the premiere of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
Isaac captivated us from the first moment with his funny monologue, which was widely shared on social media. He began by talking about his full name and his Latin ancestry.
“I said to Hollywood, ‘You can pick two of these names.’ Guess what they went with? The white ones,” he joked. “I’m half Guatemalan, half Cuban — or, as casting directors call that, ‘Ethnically ambiguous.’”
“According to them, I can play anything from a pharoah to Timothée Chalamet’s daddy,” he added.
Isaac also took the opportunity to talk about his entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the new miniseries “Moon Knight,” which tells the story of a mercenary with a multiple personality disorder who gets involved in a war with the gods during ancient and modern Egypt.
The actor also talked about being inspired to make his own movie when he was only ten years old. Isaac spoke about his film debut, which he calls “The Avenger, not The Avengers,” and brought clips from the film as proof. “It was shot on location in my buddy Bruce Ferguson’s backyard, in our hometown of Miami, Florida. I play a ninja assassin training to fight his nemesis,” he explained.
“Now, you may be asking, Oscar, why are you using your monologue to show us old home videos? And the reason is, it’s important to encourage kids to be weirdos,” said Isaac, licking a bloody prop sword handed to him on stage. “Because every once in a while, one of those weirdos grows up to host SNL.”