Julio Torres, a former writer for Saturday Night Live, recently recounted one of his most embarrassing experiences during his time on the iconic NBC show from 2016 to 2019. In an interview published on April 13, 2025, by The Guardian, he relayed an amusing incident involving pop sensation Shawn Mendes, whom he initially mistook for an intern.
As Torres observed Mendes confidently walking through the Saturday Night Live set, he mistakenly assumed the award-winning artist was simply a young intern from NYU getting too comfortable in his surroundings.
“No one cringed, no one was harmed, but I did think that Shawn Mendes was an intern. I was like, what is this intern doing just like strolling the halls?”
It wasn’t until he noticed Mendes rehearsing for his performance on the monitors that Torres realized the truth: Mendes was the guest star of the episode, not just a casual intern.
From Writer to Director: Julio Torres’ Evolution in the Entertainment Industry
While Julio Torres initially made his mark as a talented writer, he has recently expanded his creative repertoire to include acting and directing. Currently, he stars in and oversees the production of HBO’s Fantasmas, a project he also penned.
In a January 22, 2025 appearance on the news podcast 1A, he discussed both Problemista and Fantasmas, noting that the release of these projects coincided due to unforeseen scheduling complications stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent strikes.
Despite the busy year in terms of releases, Torres expressed a unique perspective, feeling disconnected from the excitement as he had not been immersed in the creation of new material during that period.
“They’re both relatively small projects. So, it’s not like… I hope no one felt that I was being shoved down their throats,”
highlighted Torres, addressing concerns about the frequency of his work appearing in the public eye.
Additionally, he opened up about the challenges he faced with the business aspects of filmmaking. The multitude of meetings and strategic discussions proved to be overwhelming, leading to a sense of detachment from the creative process.
Reflecting on his journey, Torres admitted to becoming preoccupied with promoting existing works, which often left him feeling anchored in the past. For instance, although he penned Problemista in 2020, the promotional cycle took him back to that time, hindering his ability to focus on fresh ideas.
He elaborated that he had worked on the film over several years—writing it in 2020, directing in 2021, and editing in 2022. Unfortunately, the film’s release was delayed several times, ultimately premiering in 2024. This long timeline made him feel as though he had stepped back in time, rather than moving forward with new projects.
“So, it was sort of like a false start. So, it just felt like, it felt so long. And it feels like, you know, I haven’t seen the movie in a bit,”
Torres explained, reflecting on the peculiar sensation of discussing a project that felt representative of a previous version of himself.
Torres also shared his fascination with toys, noting how they often come with specific messages or emotions intended by their manufacturers. He expressed a desire to subvert these narratives, recognizing that children frequently interpret toys in wildly different manners than intended, leading to unconventional stories and scenarios.
This unpredictability sparked Torres’ curiosity about the vast possibilities of imaginative play, illustrating how children’s creativity can diverge dramatically from the manufacturers’ original concepts.
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