E-mail a friendMark-Paul Gosselaar
original airdate August 22, 2008
Perhaps best known for his role as iconic 90s teen Zack Morris in NBC's Saved by the Bell, Mark-Paul Gosselaar has also starred in the critically acclaimed television drama NYPD Blue. The California native began his acting career in small movies and commercials. Outside of his extensive film and TV work, Gosselaar finds time to indulge his interests in such sports as cycling, auto racing and motorcross. He's also an avid pilot. He's set to star in the TNT network's new drama Raising the Bar.
Actor discusses the the reality of child stardom today. (2:49)
Full interview. (10:52)
Mark-Paul Gosselaar
Tavis: Mark-Paul Gosselaar is a talented actor whose TV credits include "NYPD Blue", "Hyperion Bay" and, of course, "Saved by the Bell." He stars in a new series created by Steven Bochco called "Raising the Bar." The legal drama premiers Monday night, September 1, on TNT. Here now a scene from "Raising the Bar."
[Clip]
Tavis: Wow. A public defender with heart. A PD with feelings.
Mark-Paul Gosselaar: Well, I mean, in my experience, I haven't found a public defender in the Bronx where I did most of my research that did not have the same views as we just watched of Jerry. You know, I was under the assumption because of television and that's how I get all my legal expertise is from watching -
Tavis: - don't we all (laughter).
Gosselaar: We do, and I thought that all public defenders are these schleppy, you know, they couldn't do anything better, they couldn't go into private defense, so they become public defenders, and that's not the case. I mean, the Bronx defenders where I did most of my research, you got people from Yale, Harvard, the best of the best, that are trying to make a difference and that's why they became public defenders.
Tavis: You've already started to intimate it. Give me a bit more about what the series is really about.
Gosselaar: Well, the series is about the system. What makes us different is, you know, this is a legal drama. It's not a legal procedural drama. We're showing the complexities of the system through the eyes of public defenders and the young ADAs in the DA's office. Really the key is the complexities of the system and the clients and the people, especially Jerry's clients, who take the brunt of the destructive criminal justice policy that is going on.
Tavis: Who's decision was it, theirs or yours, for you to look the way that you look? Speaking of schleppy, this ain't your most handsome performance (laughter).
Gosselaar: Well, you know, from doing four years of "NYPD Blue", and this is obviously another Steven Bochco Productions, Steven and I sat down and we said, you know, we don't want this character to look anything like what you did on "NYPD Blue." What can we do? I came in with the long hair and we ran it by one of the other producers on the show, David Feige. He was a public defender for fifteen years and we asked him, "Can a public defender look the way I do on the show?" He says, "Of course."
There's no law, there's no rule, saying that you have to look a certain way and it kind of plays for the character. The character is a bit of a rogue, a bit of a slob. You notice with the wardrobe that I wear, he just doesn't care about it. He worries more about his clients and about changing the system than about his looks.
Tavis: So Bochco, you must really like this guy, he must really like you. Not a bad guy to be in like with.
Gosselaar: No. He is great. I know you've met him and he's a talented - he's a mentor to me, one of the brightest people in television. To have him, you know, be in my corner and ask me to be a part of his production, you know, it happened once and it's happening again. It's another blessing for me.
Tavis: You think a show like this - and the answer may be what you've already said earlier that it takes a look at the system from a different perspective, it's the PD's point of view, etc., etc. There's so many legal dramas on television now. How does a show like this find its own footing? What did you see on paper when you took the role that gave you reason to believe that it could find its own audience?
Gosselaar: Well, people always ask like, "What makes legal dramas work?" I think this is in the true sense a legal drama. We have shows like "Law & Order" which are great shows. Those to me are procedural shows. They don't deal with, in my opinion, the character structure of the people going through the system and that's how our show, you know, differs from the other legal shows that are on television.
You are going to see how it affects my character, how it affects the DA to make the decisions that they do day in and day out. We're dealing with, you know, cases that aren't these high-profile serial cases. We're dealing with, you know, misdemeanors, felonies that will shock you that those are felonies, that somebody's gonna get twenty-five years for it. On our show, it'll make you sort of question your own beliefs and your own morale of, you know, do you think somebody deserves what we just gave them on our show and what happens in real life.
Tavis: I'm gonna out somebody now. Don't tell her I told you this.
Gosselaar: Okay.
Tavis: My producer, Vanessa, who booked your segment, is a huge "Saved by the Bell" fan. She had enough good sense not to say that to you because you've heard that like a gazillion times, probably every day, about "Saved by the Bell", so I'm not gonna ask you about that now that I've outed her about that. I'm not gonna ask you about it.
I want to ask you another question, which is how you, when the show is still on every day, navigate your career beyond that moment so that you don't get typecast or forever stuck in that particular role? You've done a good job of that, I think. How do you do that, though?
Gosselaar: I want you to be honest. Look at me. I've aged (laughter).
Tavis: (Laughter) Tell that to Vanessa.
Gosselaar: I love it when people go, "You look nothing like what you did on 'Saved by the Bell'." I go, "Well, it's been twenty years now. You know, give me a break." I think I've done okay (laughter).
Tavis: But, you know, a lot of child actors get stuck in that space and they can't move beyond it.
Gosselaar: Yeah. I mean, I have good representation. You know, God bless, my wife and I have been married for twelve years. We're celebrating our twelfth anniversary. I've completely removed myself, when I'm not working, away from the business because that's what I like to do. That seemed to work for me.
I've been lucky enough to work with great people. Bochco took a chance on me back in 2001. I read for a completely different role. He said, "Hey, would you like to be a detective on 'NYPD Blue'?" You know, I'm indebted to him still to this day. I've put in hard work, but to me, I feel blessed and lucky. You know, I've just made it work.
We also don't have - maybe if I was a child star now in this environment, this sort of media frenzy that we have, I don't know if I would have the same outcome because we didn't have the paparazzi, we didn't have the Internet that documents every step you take. So when these new breed of child stars make a mistake for being sixteen years old, you know, for going to a party and, you know, doing a keg stand or doing underage drinking, it becomes like this whole big media frenzy.
When I grew up, that was just part of life. That was just part of me being a stupid sixteen-year-old going through, you know, what most sixteen-year-olds go through. Not saying it's right, but I don't know if I would have been able to, you know, move beyond a child star status.
Tavis: You have kids now?
Gosselaar: I do.
Tavis: So if they come to Daddy and talk to Daddy about wanting to get in the business to the formulation you've just laid out now, what does Daddy say to those kids?
Gosselaar: I say that I'm supportive of their decision. If they want to be an actor, I will do everything for them, but I don't know if I will drive them to auditions, if I will drive them to, you know, to the meetings.
Tavis: (Laughter).
Gosselaar: I still think, if you're talented at that young age, you're talented at eighteen when they can do it on their own. But I'll be supportive of it and, you know, take it as it comes, but it's not something that I would ever push my children into. It's a tough business.
Tavis: Is TV the medium - I mean, it's the medium that we most know you for.
Gosselaar: Right.
Tavis: Has it always been your medium of choice? Is it still your medium of choice? Would you like to do more stuff onstage, on film? Or is TV your thing and you're cool with it?
Gosselaar: I'm fine with it right now. I mean, I've gotten some great opportunities to do great stuff. I still feel extremely young and, even though I've been in the business for over twenty years, I still feel like every time I do a new project, it's a new beginning, it's a new step.
I'm not rushing it. I'm not saying I have to be in film by the time I'm, you know, this age or I have to go do a play on Broadway to feel like I've accomplished something. I'm taking one step at a time. It seems that television is the medium that seems to work for me at the moment and I'm enjoying it.
Tavis: Why did you get into the business when you did twenty years ago as a kid? And is the reason for staying in it now the same reason for why you got in it?
Gosselaar: Why did I get into it? You know, I got into it at such a young age and -
Tavis: - your choice? Your parents push you into it? Why did you get in it?
Gosselaar: I think it was one of those things like, "He's a cute kid." You know, somebody says you should get your kid into acting. My parents are immigrants from Holland. My mother is Indonesian, my father is Dutch. They moved here and I was born. I was the first of my family to be born in America. They knew nothing about the business. You know, some friend of my mother said, "You have a cute kid. You should get him into print work and doing commercials."
From there, I sort of jumped cut to me getting "Saved by the Bell", then you're sort of forced into, you know, going along with the program and then, by the time that ended, I was eighteen, nineteen years old. Now I have to make a decision of is this something I want to do for the rest of my life? Yeah. I made a decision that I'm relatively good at it. I really enjoy the process and I might as well continue.
Tavis: Things worked out okay. I was teasing Vanessa, "He could have been Screech on a bad reality show." That's another issue. We're gonna talk about that. That's for the "Saved by the Bell" fans.
Gosselaar: I'm looking forward to that book that's he's gonna do. I don't know if you know about that. I'm looking forward to that (laughter).
Tavis: I've been hearing about this book Screech is writing (laughter). Lastly, before Mark-Paul goes, when he walked on the set before we started this conversation, we were talking about - he asked me a question about Disneyland. You don't care about the back story.
We were talking about Disneyland and I was saying to Mark-Paul that my favorite ride to this day - I go to Disneyland at least once a year just to ride my favorite ride which is "It's a Small World After All." I love the song. Speaking of being kids, I loved the song then, still love it now. I got to go to Disneyland once a year just to get on the little silly ride because I love the ride, and you said to me, "I hate that." (laughter)
Gosselaar: Well, it hasn't changed. See, that's the thing. It has not changed since I was a kid.
Tavis: Yeah, I love it (laughter).
Gosselaar: It might have been one of those things where it gave me a funny feeling back when I was a kid and I just never seemed to escape it. You know, with kids, it's one thing. They like seeing it. But it's just those - it's a small world, but there's so many politically wrong things going on for me and it's a small world. When I look at it, I just look at it and I go -
Tavis: - you know what? Screw you. You're wrong and your kids and I are right. "It's a Small World" is all that and then some (laughter).
Gosselaar: Yeah, yeah (laughter).
Tavis: Anyway, so is "Raising the Bar" on TNT premiering on Monday, September 1, starring one Mark-Paul Gosselaar. Nice to have you on the program. Good to see you, man.
Gosselaar: Thanks, Tavis.
Back to August 22, 2008