What The Cast Of Saved By The Bell Looks Like Today

Saved by the Bell followed "a close knit group of six friends" as they "try to make it through their teens while attending Bayside High School in Palisades, California." The show had a simple premise, but somehow it worked to create a series we all know and love. The series only ran for four seasons, but that was more than enough time to swoon over characters like Zack Morris and A.C. Slater, played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Mario Lopez, respectively.

Our favorite Bayside High students may have been immortalized in the '90s, but NBC announced plans to bring Saved by the Bell back from the dead via their streaming service Peacock. The series' description shared to USA Today promises a heavy dose of nostalgia with a modern-day flare: "When California governor Zack Morris ... gets into hot water for closing too many low-income high schools, he proposes they send the affected students to the highest performing schools in the state — including Bayside High. The influx of new students gives the over privileged Bayside kids a much needed and hilarious dose of reality." Here's a glimpse of what your favorite Saved by the Bell stars look like today.

Mario Lopez's acting career began prior to the Saved by the Bell series, but it was through his jock character A.C. Slater that many came to know him. Slater's wrestling unitard, curly mullet, and dimpled smile is perhaps forever engrained in fans' minds. Lopez remains in the entertainment scene and has co-hosted entertainment news shows like Access Hollywood and Extra, but has since ditched his iconic hairdo and uniform. However, there's hope for a reprisal. 

"The deal is being done," Lopez revealed to Access Hollywood. "It's gonna happen. We are going to be rebooting Saved By The Bell for the new NBC streaming platform." He continued, saying, "I might be bringing back the mullet." Say what? That unitard might even make a comeback. Other than the hair, Lopez still looks every bit the part of A.C. Slater, and, considering he played the role for all four seasons, he'll likely have no problem jumping back into character.

Are you so excited about Jessie Spano returning to the small screen? Elizabeth Berkley's role as Jessie in the Saved by the Bell reboot was officially confirmed in September 2019. In her acting career, Berkley went from playing class president to showgirl.

In the decades since Saved by the Bell ended, Berkley has become a role model for teens not on television, but in real life. "For five years, I've been facilitating self-esteem workshops in middle schools and high schools for over 30,000 girls," she revealed in an interview on the Rachel Ray show. Berkley also went on to write The New York Times' bestseller Ask Elizabeth: Real Answers to Everything You Secretly Wanted to Ask About Love, Friends, Your Body... and Life in General.

Before agreeing to be a part of the Saved by the Bell reboot, Berkley said it would have "to be right." Since she's joined the cast, we can assume it was indeed "right." 

You may not have had a soft spot for your high school principal, but you couldn't help but love Mr. Richard Belding, the principal of Bayside High. Can't you still hear him responding to the teenagers' antics with a "Hey, hey, hey, hey, what is going on here?" Good times, good times. 

Rumors of a Saved by the Bell reunion date as far back as 2013, but Dennis Haskins, who played Mr. Richard Belding, didn't feel a reunion should happen without all of the original main cast members. "People magazine did something with five cast members, but they didn't even talk about Mr. Belding, and Screech was kind of exiled because of his book. That's still not the seven of us." he told Parade. "Whatever you want to talk about, that show was six students and the principal. They were the heart of the show." Today, Haskins is still in the acting business.

Max may have only starred in 22 episodes of Saved by the Bell, but he was a welcome edition to the cast. In the series, he owned the restaurant The Max, where the teens would often hang out. In 2018, Ed Alonzo, the actor who played Max, even went on to open up a pop-up restaurant called Saved by the Max in Los Angeles, Calif. He provided Entertainment Tonight a tour of the establishment, which really looked identical to the '90s set. Not only that, but Ed Alonzo himself still looked identical to his character Max. In the interview, he was even rocking a similar hairstyle.

In lieu of a sequel, Alonzo joked that his restaurant could become the theme of a reprisal. "There should a show based on The Max so, where maybe the kids that were on Saved by the Bell, their kids are now hanging out at The Max." He continued, "'Cause, look at me, maybe it should be Saved by the Max."  

You know Leah Remini from King of Queens, The Talk, and her eponymous documentary series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath. But did you know she was actually in Saved by the Bell? 

Remini may have only starred in the show for six total episodes as Stacey Carosi, but her character made a big impact as she was introduced during the Malibu Sands Beach club episodes. And, lest you forget, she also served as Zack's summer love interest. In a 2014 interview with TV Land's The Exes, Remini briefly reminisced about her time on the show. "I was on the summer episodes, and I made out with Zack Morris," she revealed. "No tongue," she clarified. 

In an interview with Hollywood.com, Remini also said she "had such a great time" starring in the series. "It was like the height of their success and I think they were celebrating 100 episodes at that time and they were all lovely to me," she added.

A Saved by the Bell reboot without Samuel "Screech" Powers played by Dustin Diamond is hard to imagine, but that may very well be the case — especially considering Diamond published the scandalous tell-all book Behind the Bell in 2009.

In an interview with former co-star Mario Lopez on Extra in 2016, Diamond admitted that he didn't actually write the book and instead used a ghostwriter who "fabricated a whole bunch of stuff." When Lopez acknowledged that Diamond's book didn't paint a "flattering" image of the cast, Diamond replied, "Imagine how I feel, I haven't talked to [Mark-Paul Gosselaar] or Elizabeth [Berkley] or Tiffani [Thiessen] in ages, so I can't imagine what they think, and I'm hoping this will clear it up." He added, "I was just as shocked and appalled."

Years earlier, Diamond was found guilty of carrying a concealed weapon and disorderly conduct and subsequently served a three-month sentence. In his interview with Extra, he claimed he was defending his fiancée, Amanda Schutz. Although Diamond has since apologized to the cast for his book, it's hard to see him ever returning to Saved by the Bell.

Leanna Creel's role on Saved by the Bell was brief. The actress starred in ten episodes of the series, but her role as Tori Scott, the tough biker chick and Zack Morris' love interest, was memorable. "If you told me then that in 20 years, people would still recognize me from Saved by the Bell, I'd say, 'Shut up,'" the actress told ABC News. "Even at the time, it was kind of campy and not necessarily something I'd want to be remembered for!" Her ten weeks on the show helped Creel pay for her UCLA tuition, where she eventually earned her MFA in film production, as she'd developed a knack for and a love of the producing side of the entertainment business.

In 2008, she married Rinat Greenberg and the pair has two sons, Levi and Milo. "We showed Levi one episode of Saved By the Bell," Creel dished to ABC News. "He was confused! He didn't totally get it." Though, with that '90s-esque long curly hair, it may have been hard to recognize her. She continued, "We were laughing about it. What were we going to do?" 

Who could forget Saved by the Bell's Kelly Kapowski? She was the "It" girl and Zack Morris' high school sweetheart. Although the couple ended up — spoiler! —  married by the end of the series, executive producer Peter Engel told TVLine in 2016 that Zack And Kelly would "probably not" be married anymore. "Well, they'd be married — but not to each other," he clarified. Where does that leave Kelly? He continued, saying, "Kelly would be married with children and have a cooking show on the Food Network, which [Tiffani Thiessen] has — and I watch!"

In the years since playing Kelly, Tiffani Thiessen did indeed go on to star in a cooking show. Yes, she's pretty much the "It" girl in real life. Prior to starring in her own show, she also appeared in Beverly Hills, 90210 as Valerie Malone. In May 2019, while promoting her and husband Brady Smith's children's book on Access, Thiessen revealed that many of the Saved by the Bell castmates have "stayed very close" and her husband is even good friends with Mark-Paul Gosselaar, who played Zack.

Audiences fell in love with Lark Voorhies through her portrayal of Zack's bestie, avid gossiper and fashionista Lisa Turtle. After Saved by the Bell ended, though, Voorhies secured only a few small parts in television and movies before she seemingly disappeared from the Hollywood scene.

When Voorhies eventually reappeared in a television interview with The Yo Show in 2012 (via Yahoo! Entertainment), fans quickly began worrying about the star. She not only looked different, but she no longer sounded like the Lark Voorhes fans had come to know and love through her role on Saved by the Bell. Voorhies' mother later revealed to People that her daughter had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Voorhies herself, however, denied having any sort of mental disorder. Voorhies was later seen in public in June 2018 at the Saved by the Bell-themed pop-up restaurant Saved by the Max, looking more like herself (via Us Weekly).

While it's virtually impossible to picture anyone else playing the role of Saved by the Bell's Zack Morris, Mark-Paul Gosselaar wasn't secured to return to the show's reboot when it was announced in September 2019, despite the reboot's description revealing his iconic character would be the governor of California. He told Variety that he read about the series "in the trades just like everybody else this morning." He continued, saying, "Honestly, I was never approached. I woke up to the news this morning with a kind of 'huh' response." Uh, what?

Gosselaar, who's starred in the likes of NYPD Blue, Franklin & Bash, and Pitch, said he'd be down for playing Zack again, but speculated that his role in Mixed-ish is the reason why NBC didn't get in touch. "I'm on ABC, so it doesn't really fit into that considering [Disney+], so I understand the business side of things," he explained. "But I had no idea it was that far along." Hopefully, all will be rectified so we can see Gosselaar play Zack Morris — albeit a much buffer version — once more.