The “Saturday Night Live” star repeatedly told the “Abbott” creator not to play with him, adding, “I am not ready for this. I woke up too soon ago.”

Quinta Brunson freaks out Marcello Hernández with Abbott Elementary prank: ‘Why are you doing this to me?’

The "Saturday Night Live" star repeatedly told the "Abbott" creator not to play with him, adding, "I am not ready for this. I woke up too soon ago.”

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and NME.

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June 9, 2026 5:23 p.m. ET

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Quinta Brunson and Marcello Hernandez. Credit:

TheStewartofNY/WireImage; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

- Quinta Brunson pranked Marcello Hernández by calling him up and asking why he wasn't on the set of her show, *Abbott Elementary.*

- The *Saturday Night Live* star became progressively more and more spooked during their conversation, prompting him to ask her to "tell me the truth."

- When she revealed it was a prank, he added, “Dude, I always get caught in this! Why are you doing this to me?"

Quinta Brunson just schooled Marcello Hernández on how to pull off a pretty perfect prank.

The Emmy-winning actress called up the *Saturday Night Live* star during latest installment of *Elle*'s "Phoning It In" prank call series and asked him why he wasn’t currently on the set of *Abbott Elementary*.

Hernández started their conversation overjoyed to hear from Brunson.

“Wow, I feel so honored. I love this,” the comedian said, to which Brunson responded, “Marcello, I wish I could say the same. Where are you?”

When Hernández informed her that he was currently in New York, Brunson bluntly replied, “Marcello, you’re supposed to be here in L.A.”

Marcello Hernandez on June 1 in Hollywood.

Griffin Nagel/NBC via Getty

"No, I’m not,” he said. “Are you serious?”

Brunson fired back, "Marcello, you’re supposed to be on *Abbott* this week!”

Hernández began to spiral.

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'SNL' star Marcello Hernández reacts to Dax Shepard pressing him to date Sabrina Carpenter

“Quinta, don’t you f---ing play with me right now,” he warned.

Brunson, in turn, came back just as strong.

“Marcello, don’t you f---ing play with *me*,” she emphasized, prompting him to shout, “Quinta, don’t do this!”

“I am in production and they’re telling me that you’re not here!” she continued, pausing for a brief moment to hide her laughter over the phone.

“Quinta, don’t you f--- ing do this to me right now,” Hernández repeated. “I am not ready for this. I woke up too soon ago.”

The *Abbott* creator could be seen silently laughing as Hernández freaked out, before asking him to confirm once again that he wasn’t currently in Los Angeles. "

Why are you doing this to me, Marcello?" she added. "I stuck my neck out for you! Seriously, Marcello?”

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And that was when Hernández hit his breaking point.

“Quinta… At some point, you have to tell me you’re joking ‘cause I’m gonna freak out,” he said. “I’m gonna freak out. I’m gonna do a whole thing. I’m gonna do a whole mess… Can you just tell me the truth?”

Brunson, in turn, doubled down even harder on the prank.

“Marcello, I am on set,” she said. “We are here. I’m right here with hair and makeup, and you’re not in their chair.”

That was when Hernández called Brunson’s bluff by FaceTiming her to prove her location. When she accepted the video call, he could be overheard laughing and declaring, “You are so bad. Where are you?”

After Brunson explained the premise of the segment, Hernández added, “Dude, I always get caught in this! Why are you doing this to me? Quinta, why do people feel so free to do this to me?!”

Brunson shared that he was simply the lucky individual who happened to answer his phone at the time, and "I had to just make something work,” adding, “I’m sorry.”

Hernández called Brunson's pranking skills so good that they were almost scary.

“I don’t like that," he said. "I saw your name come on my phone and I go, ‘Quinta! It’s Quinta! How exciting!’ And then of course.”

He revealed one way that she could make it up to him: “You owe me dinner now.”

“I know," she acknowledged. "I’m sorry.”

Watch Brunson prank Hernández — as well as Ayo Edebiri, Brett Goldstein, and Niecy Nash — in the clip above.

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Comedy”