Mark-Paul Gosselaar

Interview by: Bruce Bluett

BruceBluett@TheCinemaSource.com

Take a look at the calendar, and you might be surprised to see that a long time has passed since the neon days of the nineties. Sadly, with the passage of time comes a bitter sense of nostalgia for many of us who are coming into adulthood in the new millennium. Now we have to pay bills, get real jobs, and dare I say…let go of Saved by the Bell. But hey, growing up isn’t so bad. Just turn to Saved by the Bell for guidance. We all watched them deal with life challenges from junior high to ‘The College Years’. And who was right there by our side every step of the way? Who was it that showed us the meaning of friendship, loyalty, and fine dress? Zack Morris that’s who! Oh sure you may look back now and have a laugh but don’t be so quick to forget the effect that Mark-Paul Gosselaar had on your maturation process. And was he about to abandon us when the going got tough? Hell no! He’s still right there in the trenches with us, this time playing a hardened detective on the wildly popular and enduring NYPD Blue.

Gosselaar plays Detective John Clark Jr. who has the enviable task of being partner to longtime Blue protagonist Detective Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz). As Gosselaar prepares to enter his fourth season on the Emmy winning show, he commented about the ever present pressure to operate at peak performance.

“It seems like were always struggling to get another season. Sometimes we feel we’re not as good as the ratings say. It might be a case of the old lion looking over his shoulder at the young cubs thinking, ‘hmmm…can that one take me out’?” Gosselaar mused. “That may be a factor because we are the older show; we have been on the air for a while. Is it our day? Is it time to hang it up? But it seems that the show still continues, and we still enjoy being here. And that’s a very important element.”

When a show has

tenure as NYPD Blue has displayed, it is commonplace for characters and staff members to come and go as fast as the episodes themselves fly by. Many fans of the show didn’t know how long Detective Clark would last. However it seems that his dark past and troubled persona have caught the interest of fans and writers alike.

“You always hope that they (writers) don’t replace you. When they do bring on new people, it’s good for the show. It’s like getting a new toy. The writers enjoy it because it’s a whole new character that they can write for, one that they aren’t used to writing for. They can try different things” said Gosselaar. His character deals with the looming suicide of his father, Detective Clark Senior. Often his inability to get close to others gets in the way. Such was the case with his relationship with Detective Rita Ortiz (Jacqueline Obradors), which deteriorated after his fathers death.

Besides relying on the depth of his character, Gosselaar can also draw from the “authentic” New York atmosphere to enhance his performance. Well…maybe it’s not really New York, but it’s all about maintaining the illusion.

“I have never lived in New York. We would all love to shoot in New York. But, part of me is thankful that we don’t. I was born and raised here (West Coast), I’ve created a family here. It would be really tough to pack that up” he admits. “Personally, I would like to shoot in New York because when we go there once a year you say ‘this is the feel of the show’. You feel like you’re living the show. Here (Los Angeles) we make it look pretty good. I have a lot of friends who live in New York who can’t tell the difference. The say ‘that was shot in New York, right’? I have to tell them no, that was shot in downtown LA. We doctor up everything; we take down the signs and put up New York signs. We change the cabs to New York cabs. A lot of time is taken to dress the set.

Or set dresser has won many awards and they impress us until this day.”

Don’t fret fans, you haven’t been completely duped. The entire cast and crew make a bicoastal effort once a year to bring the show where it belongs.

“When we go [to New York] it’s kind of silly; I think we do it just for ourselves” jokes Gosselaar. We do it just to get into the mood and back into the swing of things. What we do is for seven episodes we take certain exterior shots and exterior scenes and we shoot them in New York. I don’t know if it’s cost efficient, but its fun. When we’re in New York, a lot of fans show up. Actual NYPD show up. It’s a great way for us to say hello to everyone. It really helps for us to get in the mindset to work for nine months as a cop”.

The streets of New York are a far cry from the sunny paradise of Bayside High. Don’t you worry; our boy Mark-Paul has some professional back-up.

“When you are in New York, no matter where you are in the city, there is somebody who has seen NYPD Blue. If you look at the numbers and ratings, New York City is one of our highest. In Los Angeles I guess they feel it’s a New Yorker’s show, it doesn’t sayLAPD. Plus there are all the cops there when we go to New York. I think the reason why they’ve always remained fans is because we’ve stayed true to the job. One of our executive producers had twenty-five years on the job as a detective. He keeps us very true. In turn, we’re the biggest fans of the NYPD.”

Not only are the settings for Gosselaar’s two most noted television experiences varied, but the characters are stark contrasts as well. However, the real reach for him was to play the comic caricatures found in his previous endeavors on the small and silver screens. Detective John Clark Junior is a performance that is a little closer to home.

“This is a dream role for me. This is more close to who I really am than the characters I played in Dead Man On Campus or Saved By the Bell. There are parts of this character that are certainly different as well. But, this is me. This is what I think I am good at. In the industry, nobody saw that. It was tough for me to get to this point.”

Aside form his intense schedule with the show, hopefully many of you will be happy to know that Mark-Paul still remains happily married and has just received the gift of a healthy baby boy.

“This is one of the hardest industries to be married. Actors are not all there when it comes to things like relationships. The thing about us is we still greatly enjoy each other. If it weren’t for her support it would be hard for me to do what I am doing now. Also I am very active; I don’t like to sit still. With the kid, he’s now the activity that you’re always a part of. Now, I don’t do motocross every weekend I have to do it every other weekend. And you like it and don’t complain. You have to alter your life, but you do it gladly. The rewards that you get from this little eight pound blob are more than anything you could ask for.”

Wow, can you believe that? Zack…um, no Detective Clark…I mean Mark-Paul Gosselaar is a dad. Well, time goes by and some things will always be the same. One of those things is that NYPD Blue will be back for yet another season. You can be sure that Mark-Paul will return as well to clean up the streets as we try to clean up all of the pogs and Blind Mellon cassette tapes out of our closet.