Ana de Armas Monologue - SNL

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, ANA de ARMAS! [ CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ] >>> GRACIAS. GRACIAS. [ SPEAKING SPANISH ] JUST KIDDING. I SPEAK ENGLISH. BUT I DIDN'T WHEN I FIRST GOT TO THE U.S. I WAS BORN IN CUBA, CAME TO AMERICA WHEN I WAS 26, AND I LEARNED ENGLISH THE WAY EVERYONE WHO COMES TO THIS COUNTRY DOES, BY WATCHING "FRIENDS." WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THE BEST ENGLISH TUTOR

WOULD HAVE BEEN CHANDLER BING. LOOK AT ME NOW, COULD I BE ANY BETTER AT ENGLISH? ACTING HERE WAS DIFFICULT AT FIRST BECAUSE I DIDN'T ALWAYS UNDERSTAND WHAT I WAS SAYING. THEN I MET A GUY WHO HAD A CLASS CALLED HOW TO AUDITION, WHICH WAS DEFINITELY A SCAM. HE HAD ME READ A SCENE, AND THERE WAS THIS LINE, I BEG YOUR PARDON. BUT I HAD NEVER SEEN

OR HEARD THAT PHRASE, SO I THOUGHT THIS CHARACTER WAS LITERALLY BEGGING. SO WHEN I DID THE LINE, I SAID, I BEG YOUR PARDON! GIVE IT TO ME! THEN SOMEONE ELSE IN THE CLASS READ THE LINE, AND I WAS LIKE, OH, CAN I TRY AGAIN? THIS HAS BEEN A MAGICAL YEAR. NOT ONLY I WAS NOMINATED FOR AN OSCAR -- [ CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ] BUT IN THREE

WEEKS, I'M GOING OFFICIALLY BECOME AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. [ CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ] I AM PROUD TO BECOME A CITIZEN BECAUSE WHEN I MOVED HERE, EVERYONE WAS SO WELCOMING. WHEN I DID MY FIRST MOVIE IN THE U.S. CALLED HANDS OF STONE, I GOT TO WORK WITH ROBERT DE NIRO, AND ONE DAY ON SET, HE SAID HE WAS GOING TO CUBA SOON, AND IF I DO, I'LL SAY

HELLO TO YOUR FAMILY. HE ASKED ME FOR THEIR PHONE NUMBER. I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT IT, AND ONE DAY I GET A PHONE CALL FROM MY DAD, HE'S HYSTERICAL, AND I GO, DAD, WHAT'S WRONG, AND HE GOES, ROBERT DE NIRO JUST CAME TO VISIT ME AT WORK. THAT WAS SUCH A KIND GESTURE, AND I HAVE BEEN SO FORTUNATE TO WORK WITH SO MANY WONDERFUL ACTORS. MY DAD

WAS SO PROUD OF ME, AND HE WOULD BE PROUD TO SEE ME TODAY STANDING ON THIS STAGE. I FEEL VERY LUCKY TO BE HERE. I REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME MY NAME WAS IN THE NEW YORK CROSS WORD. EVERYONE TEXTED ME, AND THEY SAID, YOU MADE IT. AND I THOUGHT I DID. BUT THEN, A COUPLE MONTHS AGO, SNL CALLED ME AND SAID, ANA, WE WANT YOU TO

HOST. AND I WAS SO SHOCKED AND EXCITED THAT ALL I COULD SAY WAS -- I BEG YOUR PARDON! WE HAVE A GREAT SHOW FOR YOU TONIGHT. KAROL G IS HERE. STICK AROUND. WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK.