Mark-Paul Gosselaar Is No Longer a ‘Saved by the Bell’ Nice Guy

Mark-Paul Gosselaar, 50, has been working steadily since he rose to fame 30-some years ago playing Zack Morris on Saved by the Bell, and he doesn’t take his career longevity for granted. “I feel very fortunate that I’ve been in the business for close to 40 years,” he says. “I appreciate it every day. It isn’t lost on me. I’ve seen a lot of my peers come and go.” His latest role is as a sinister kidnapping mastermind known only as “Sir” on NBC’s missing person thriller, Found, which returns for a second season on Oct. 3. Gosselaar tells AARP how he celebrated his 50th, how he feels about aging and why, years ago while starring on NYPD Blue, writer-producer Steven Bochco sent him to therapy.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You recently turned 50. Did you have a big celebration?

No, not my style. Everyone in my universe wanted to do something, but I had a nice, lovely dinner with my very, very close family and kids, and that was perfect for me. I’m not a big-celebration kind of guy.

Gosselaar plays a sinister kidnapping mastermind on the NBC crime drama "Found," which returns for a second season on Oct. 3. He's seen here with actress A'Zaria Carter.

Steve Swisher/NBC

How are you feeling about aging?

Oh, gosh, I do think about it. I was talking to somebody today who turned 50 as well, and he said something that I absolutely agree with: “Well, life’s long.” I said, “You’re absolutely right.” Because I think there’s a point where — maybe in your younger years you use the phrase “Life is short.” And it wasn’t until I went through a divorce in my 30s [and NYPD Blue cocreator] Steven Bochco said, “You need to get your head straight. Go see my therapist.” Bochco’s therapist said, “You’re 36. Listen son, life’s long. You have so many more years to make mistakes and rebuild and live the life you want, and do it all over again if you need to. Trust me, life’s long.” That was a very profound thing for me. I realize that, even being 50, I still have a long way to go. I’m just looking to be able to live my life out in a capacity where I’m healthy and I can be there for the people that I love.

How are you going about that goal?

I prioritize my health. The last thing I want to do is walk around with ailments and illnesses when I can prevent it and not be in pain, or worse. I wish I had adopted this earlier. [Former NFL player] Tom Brady opened my eyes to basically “the prehab instead of the rehab” — prioritizing recovery and doing less equals more sometimes. I was under the impression at a young age that [you should be] doing two workouts a day and crushing yourself and making sure you were sore and really hammering on my body. Prioritizing recovery and sleep and nutrition has always been very important to me. Understanding that I don’t need to crush myself every time I do something physically was something that was a mental block in a way. I’ve been programmed for so long to train in a certain way. And just training again for mobility and longevity and making sure that I don’t break myself down.