Being an actor and being a director are two very different jobs. Someone who’s had the career Mark-Paul Gosselaar has understands the distinction very well. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a certain gravitas to stepping into the role of director for the first time. That’s especially true when you get to do it in the second season of a show you’re starring in, and you get to lead a cast that you’ve come to regard as family, in so many ways.
We had a chance to talk to Shanola Hampton, who plays Gabi in Found, and Mark-Paul Gosselaar himself, about directing the “Missing While Manipulated” episode of Found. We talked about what it was like doing it from a whole new perspective for Gosselaar. And though there was, as every time these two are together, a lot of banter, there was also a lot of respect and introspection about the achievement.
“He is such a bore,” Hampton joked at first. “Just like vanilla ice cream, but like non-fat, like that yogurt that has no taste…” But then she got very serious, before asking us if we could just mute him so she couldn’t hear how serious she was going to get. Because, you know, you still have to tease your friends.
“He was one of the best, top five directors that I’ve ever worked with. He was prepared, he was smart, he was funny, and he moved it along. And he was able to go with the flow. Lots of things happened during the shoot. It’s a big show. And he showed up and he showed out and he gave me the space to… the episode is a quite an emotional episode and he gave me the space to really just go there and feel comfortable going there.”
“[Mark] was one of the best, top five directors that I’ve ever worked with.”
And that, Hampton wanted to make clear, isn’t always easy when you already know each other. “Quite honestly, there’s a pressure when your family comes to direct. We’re family on the show, so when Mark Paul came, I wanted everything to be… he’s one of my dearest friends. I want everybody to be nice to him! I want everybody to… you know, I wanted to give him what he needed.”
Gosselaar had nothing but praise for Hampton and for the rest of the cast. “Shanola is a lot,” he said laughing, “but one thing you’re always going to get is one hundred percent effort from her as well as everyone else. We have a fantastic crew; we have a fantastic writing staff backing us up with amazing scripts and a network and a studio that are allowing us to tell these stories, so I felt very fortunate to be in that position.”
That might have made it easier, but it didn’t make it easy. “There was a lot of pressure because you want to do right, but everyone made it easy for me, and I think it’s going to be an episode [that] I can be proud of.”
And, of course, we had to end with banter. “Shanola, it meant a lot hearing I’m your number one,” Gosselaar said. “Truly.” She laughed. “I can’t stand you,” she responded. But neither of them was being serious. In truth, it’s clear they are each other’s number one, at least when it comes to co-stars.
Found airs on Thursdays on NBC.
