Melissa Villaseñor
Melissa Anne Villaseñor (/ˌviːjəsɪnˈjɔːr/ VEE-yə-sin-YOR; born October 9, 1987) is an American comedian and actress. First garnering attention for her stand-up shows and impressions, Villaseñor found wider success when she was hired to join the cast of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live ahead of the show's 42nd season in 2016. She then departed SNL at the end of the 47th season in 2022, after six seasons as a cast member.[1]
Melissa Villaseñor
Melissa Anne Villaseñor
October 9, 1987
Whittier, California, U.S.
- Stand-up
- television
- film
- music
2010–present
Early life[edit]
Villaseñor was born in Whittier, California, in Los Angeles County, on October 9, 1987,[2] the daughter of Mexican parents Guadalupe "Lupe" Peralta and Miguel "Michael" Humberto Villaseñor. She is of Spanish, Basque, and indigenous Mexican descent,[3] with roots in Jalisco and Aguascalientes, Mexico.[3][4][5] (She also has 2% Sub-Saharan African DNA.[3]) Villaseñor and actor Mario Lopez—whose Mexican ancestry was also explored on the same episode of Finding Your Roots—are both distantly related to director Alejandro G. Iñárritu.[6]
She attended the Catholic Ramona Convent Secondary School in Alhambra, California.[7] She briefly attended Fullerton College.[8] At 15, she started performing stand-up comedy at the Laugh Factory Comedy Camp in Hollywood.[9]
