NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - The Drink with Kate Snow: Mark-Paul Gosselaar

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

In this bonus episode of “The Drink,” Kate Snow sits down with actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar, for a conversation about life beyond his iconic role as Zack Morris on “Saved by the Bell.” While many fans remember him as the 90s heartthrob, Mark-Paul reveals that he doesn’t really identify with Zack – and, in fact, calls him a s---head! He talks about the evolution of his career since then, from his post-"Saved by the Bell" roles to his exciting new NBC show, “Found.”

Hi everybody, it's Kate Snow. For this episode of The Drink, I caught up with actor Mark Paul Gosselaar at Lodi, a restaurant in Rockefeller Plaza. If you're new to The Drink, it's always about how folks got to the top of their field. For this conversation, Mark Paul and I sat down over two glasses of Johnny Walker Black, his choice, he calls it his go-to perfect little drink. Of course, most of you will remember him as the iconic 90s heartthrob, Zach Morris from Saved by the Bell. But here's the twist. Mark Paul actually does not identify with Zach.

And in fact, he doesn't even really like the character that much. Wait till you hear what he calls him. We had a fascinating conversation about the roles he's taken on before and since then and why he is so committed to keeping his personal life out of the spotlight. That was interesting. As always, you can catch all my conversations with top artists, entrepreneurs and visionaries at NBC News dot com slash the drink.

When you get off seat by the bell, it does seem like you've moved into darker characters. Zack Morris wasn't dark. I think he was extremely dark. We just, it was just, I think the colors of the show hypnotizes you into thinking that he wasn't, that he wasn't an awful character. Ooh, say more. He was a, yeah. He really was.

Cheers. Cheers. Prost. Mark Paul Gosselaar. We're in Lodi, Rockefeller Plaza. Yeah. What do we got? This is my go-to drink. This would be a Johnny Walker Black. It's like a perfect little- Perfect whiskey.

Perfect little drink. I love it. You're an actor. You're right now in the NBC show Found. People probably know you for another show. Yeah. Saved by the Bell. Another NBC show.

Another NBC show. I'm full circled with my family, yeah. Yeah. Saved by the Bell. Another NBC show. Another NBC show. I'm full circled with my family, yeah. Right. Saved by the Bell, you were Zach. Yeah. Well, the prettiest girls in school, please report to the principal's office immediately for some chips and dip.

Does it bother you that people know you for that? Do they still stop you on the street? There's always this conception that you would be upset of your previous work. I think the only time you're upset about it is if that's all you're known for or if it's hindering you from getting a job. And that maybe happened very, very early on in my career. Like right after, say, by the end? Yeah, I'd walk into the room and they'd go, where's the blonde hair? And then you'd have to explain to them, this is my natural hair color.

I actually dyed it. That wasn't real. What was your childhood like? Because I read that it was like four years old, somebody goes, hey, this kid should be a model. Yeah, yeah, yeah. My mother's friend was a model. And it's a typical thing.

Your kid's cute. He's very charismatic. He's good in photos. You should be a model. My mom has no idea what that means, and neither do we. You're so young, you probably don't even really get what you're doing at that point. I had fun.

It was just something I did after school. You were on like every 80s show. I was. Charles in Charge? Charles in Charge. Yes? What's your major? Education, thank you.

Primary or secondary? Secondary, thank you. Well, college isn't our work, is it? I mean, don't you have fun? And then I auditioned for Saved by the Bell. When I was growing up, I wanted to be a Marine, and I wanted to play football. So I went to a Marine military academy

the summer before I got Saved by the Bell. And that's where I was gonna go to high school in Harlingen, Texas. And you would have ended up in the Marines. Oh, and I would have been happy doing that, because that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to fly helicopters for the Marines. But instead, you get the job on Ziegler. That's, uh...

Changes everything. Here we are. Did you go to an actual high school? I went to an actual high school, but I was sort of a ghost. I went to the high school, but most of the time I was on set. So the teachers would give me work with the tutors,

and I didn't have the normal high school experience because after Saved by the Bell, maybe we would do 13 episodes, we would rap, and no one would tell us if we were picked up. And we would just go back to our normal schools. I'd say goodbye to my castmates. Like you didn't know if it was going to keep going or not. You'd say goodbye.

We'd say goodbye. And we'd have a rap party, and we'd say, well, I guess this is it. And I would go back to my school, the other kids would go back to their school. And so I just was like this ghost in my regular school and nobody really cared it wasn't the time of social media yeah it wasn't a time of wanting to have fame in any way it was actually looked down upon that I was on television I was

an actor where you lived like people were like yeah it wasn't like the thing if I had played football if if I had played baseball, that would have been way cooler. I thought those people were cool. You played a cool character. That was my interpretation of the people that I was surrounded by. My classmates in real life. I was pulling from them.

You weren't the cool kid. No. No, not at all. Why did it do so well? Still, to this day, I have no idea. No idea. And it wasn't until the show wrapped in 94, I thought, well this is an industry I'm good at something. I'm sort of in it already and it's so hard to even break into the industry. I think I'll stick with it.

You decided not to go to college. You decided not to go to college? I decided not to go to college and continue with acting. Now you have kids who are college age. Do you reflect back on that? Do you think, maybe, do you ever think I should have gone to college? I wouldn't mind had I had a higher education. And there's still part of me that has a romantic sort of vision of like going... The college experience.

Yeah. Or not even the college experience, just putting my time and effort into something. Something. You're a dad of four. I am. Yeah. I don't know if everybody knows that. They don't know a lot of things about me.

Well, I'm going to ask a lot. Which is by design. I'm not on social. I keep a lot of things private. And I love what I do. I love going into the industry. I love playing the characters and I love the business aspect,

but it doesn't define us. I feel like at home, we're just a normal family. And dad has this job, mom has this job. Kids have this in school. When I look at your resume, your bio, it's a lot of different things. It went from this to this to this to this. That's Mr. Dad to you. The person who took a chance on me and I think propelled me into another level would have been Stephen Bochco. He was a producer, writer,

just just a brilliant showrunner. I auditioned for him and I knew I wasn't going to get it because they already offered the role to somebody that I knew. And afterwards he says, you know what, you're a really good actor. And I thought, ugh, great. Nice to hear from him. It's nice to hear, but I'd rather hear I have the job. Right? Yes. Or two weeks later he called my team and offered me a role on NYPD Blue.

Just can't go around feeling the way I'm feeling. Never auditioned for it. NYPD Blue for what, a few years? Four seasons. Four seasons. Four seasons. The show was, everyone was saying it was nearing the end when I got on. I really didn't care, I just wanted to be a part of the show.

It was amazing. Let's talk about what you're doing now. And how did Found with NBC come about? You don't disappoint. When there was talks of me possibly playing a character on the show, I read it. And then I thought, you want me to play that role?

You play a guy who kidnapped a child. I had a conversation with the showrunner, NK, and I asked her immediately, is there someone that, while you were writing this, that you used as a... Mm, like a guidepost? Yeah. And she said, Ted Bundy. I thought, okay, I was familiar with that.

There was a lot of documentaries about Ted at that point. So I went back and rewatched them. And then I understood, you know, Ted was a charming, not bad-looking guy who would disarm a lot of his victims. It does seem like you're, it does seem like you've moved into darker characters sometimes. Zack Morris wasn't dark? I think he was extremely dark. We just, it was just, I think the colors of the show hypnotized you into thinking that

he wasn't, that he wasn't an awful character. Ooh, say more. Well, have you never seen Zack Morris' Trash? Zack Morris' Trash? Zack Morris is trash! It's Marry Your Classmate Week at Bayside. It's brilliant. If you're a fan of the show, it's a must watch. And it's all about how dark Zack Morris was. He was a shithead. He really was. I never played him like that and I'm not playing my current character. I've never played any of the bad characters.

Bad, you know what I mean? You don't go into it saying, oh, I'm gonna play a twirly mustache villain. Are you drawn to more complex roles? It's easier for me to do drama than it is to do comedy. I really have a hard time doing comedy. Can we do a lightning round? Yeah, of course.

Okay, quick answers. Yeah, yeah. Zach Morris' brick phone or modern-day cell phone? Neither. I wish I could throw them both away. If you weren't acting, what would you be doing? If I were to have a higher education, I'd want to pass the bar in some way.

And be a lawyer? Correct. What's one 90s trend that should make a comeback? 90s trend that should make a comeback? The rolled up jeans. The rolled up jeans, yes. Remember the bottom? You have to fold it over and then roll it up and then it'll tighten.

We'll make it a comeback. Why do you think Zack Morris became this 90s icon? I don't know. I'm still trying to figure that out. It's still on and it's still in reruns and people can just find security and safety and watching it because it brings them back to maybe it's a simpler, maybe it's a better time and nostalgic. Mark Fogastler, thank you. Thank you.