For two seasons now, TV fans have gotten used to seeing Mark-Paul Gosselaar shine as the chilling Sir, the man who kidnapped Gabi (Shanola Hampton) as a teen, whom she then held in her basement, and is now locked up in prison, on Found.
For Gosselaar, what stands out about his most recent role (the Season 2 finale airs in May) is “that you can start with something and then it evolves into something that you had no idea it could evolve into,” he told TV Insider during a recent visit to our office. “I’m just very thankful. I feel very fortunate that we’ve been able to tell this story now for two seasons and hoping for a third.”
When you think of Gosselaar, chances are the first thing that pops in your head is Saved by the Bell. But first, he played Zack Morris on Good Morning, Miss Bliss. He later reprised that role on the Peacock revival.
“The transition, I thought, was a bit awkward just because we were now moving the show to the Palisades. It was initially in Indiana. We had some other castmates that went away and then we adopted some new ones and it was just like a different school. So it was a little awkward at first,” he recalled. “Didn’t really feel like it was a transition. It almost felt like a brand-new show.”
His guest spots over the years have included an episode of Law & Order: SVU. He filmed that injured. “I used to race motocross and I had gotten into a crash the few days before I had left for New York. So I remember I was on some very strong painkiller and was pretty loopy for most of filming,” Gosselaar shared. “And then I remember Chris Meloni had to slam me against the wall and my reaction was real because it did hurt a little bit, but I had nothing but positive things about Chris and Mariska [Hargitay], and Elizabeth Banks was my wife on the show. And it was fun. I had a good time.”
When Gosselaar’s name comes up, it’s hard not to think of the canceled-too-soon Pitch, which ran one season on Fox in 2016. “Way too soon,” he agreed. “I remember the audition process and I knew who they were going after for the actors for that role. And I was nothing like them. They sort of wanted a Mike Piazza type of guy, catcher, flowing hair and that kind of persona, charisma. And I just bet that wasn’t me when I walked in.”
He continued, “I remember Dan Fogelman just looked at me and he goes, ‘Can you gain weight?’ And I go, ‘Yeah, I can gain weight.’ And he goes, ‘Can you grow a beard?’ And I go, ‘Ah, that’s weird. I’ve never tried, but I think I can.’ So that was the very first time that I’ve ever grown a beard, was after 41 years of my life, I grew a beard for Dan Fogelman, and we created the character of Mike Lawson.”
Watch the full video above for more from Gosselaar on his career, including Highway to Heaven, NYPD Blue, Franklin & Bash, Barry, Will Trent, and other roles.
