In a new interview with HuffPost Live, Saved by the Bell star Mark-Paul Gosselaar explained how he and his costars stayed grounded while filming the ‘90s teen comedy.
“I had really good friends and family. My parents were not in the industry,” the actor, 41, said. “And I think we can credit the fact that we did not have social media around us. We didn’t know we were — quote, unquote — celebrities. The very term of ‘celebrity’ is much different nowadays than it was back when we were growing up.”
The NYPD Blue alum joked, “Our barometer for telling us how cool we were was when we did these mall tours and 2,500 people would show up and we’re like, ‘Yes, we’re successful! We made it!’”
Gosselaar also pointed out that Saved by the Bell “was canceled after every season,” likening the cast’s goodbyes to those at summer camp.
“We had no idea that we’d be coming back to a show. It wasn’t as big as it is now,” he explained. “When we were filming it, we had a small audience. It was on Saturday mornings. It wasn’t until we were syndicated that the show really took off, so after every season, it was like, ‘Okay guys, I guess we’ll see you later!’ We were 16, 17. There was no real sentimental value to anything.”
Earlier this year, Gosselaar reunited with costars Mario Lopez, Elizabeth Berkley, and Tiffani Thiessen for a skit on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
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