Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Shanola Hampton were very surprised by Found fans rooting for a Sir and Gabi romance — especially since they were never trying to sell the controversial relationship as an option on the show.
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Gosselaar, 51, addressed the scene-stealing chemistry between him and Hampton, 47, saying, “Well, it’s not something we ever work on, It just happened organically. It’s always been that way.”
Gosselaar noted that he and Hampton “just got lucky” as costars. “Sometimes you don’t need to like the person in real life for there to be chemistry on the screen. That’s not our case. We really enjoy each other’s company and I consider [Shanola] a really good friend. So that just bleeds through the lines that are all there,” he explained. “As you said, it’s written this way. So when I’m saying these lines, I just have to understand Sir’s deep affection for Gabi — and his love for her.”
Despite an emotional connection, Gosselaar clarified “there’s nothing sexual about” Sir’s interest in Gabi.
“It’s just that when he sees her, she brightens him. She’s just a part that he needs and that he wants. It helps that Shanola is a really good person and she’s a really fine actor,” he continued. “But as actors, we should be able to have that chemistry with anyone. Maybe when you see us actually together off set, [you see] we really enjoy each other and maybe people confuse that with [our characters on screen]. It just bleeds on the screen. But I think Shanola is a good enough actor that she could find that chemistry with almost anyone.”
Shanola Hampton and Mark-Paul Gosselaar Matt Miller/NBC
Found, which premiered in 2023, follows public relations specialist and crisis manager Gabi Mosely (Hampton) and her team of associates as they work to find missing people who have been ignored or forgotten by law enforcement.
While Found primarily focuses on the cases themselves, it also centers around Gabi and Sir’s relationship. The NBC series introduced their dynamic with Gabi kidnapping Sir in the present timeline — as viewers learned from flashbacks about how Sir kidnapped Gabi when she was a teenager.
“You could look at it in another way and go, ‘It’s really disgusting and disturbing how committed he is to this individual.’ There’s two sides to it,” Gosselaar argued about his character’s twisted intentions. “That’s the challenge that I think our writers have and I have every week when I get the dialogue is how to play it so that it isn’t one-sided. I think our show is very multifaceted and that’s what makes it interesting.”
Just because Gosselaar plays Sir doesn’t mean he agrees with his actions. That is why the actor has gotten even more surprised seeing the “Team Sir” fan support on social media.
“I think it’s just a study of society — but I feel the same way. With Breaking Bad, I really loved Bryan Cranston’s portrayal of his character. He was a real dark character and you found yourself rooting for him and not wanting him or anything bad to happen to him — even though he was despicable at times,” Gosselaar told Us. “Dexter as well. When I did research for this character, I needed to have a reference. [Our showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll] said Ted Bundy.”
Gosselaar continued: “Up until that point, I had known about Ted Bundy but I didn’t know much about him. When I did a dive on him, I realized he was a very handsome man and he could disarm his victims. Even when he was in court, he was a very smart individual. He made friends in a weird way and people rooted for him. It’s just an interesting dynamic and I wanted to make sure that we continued that with this character. I could play Sir a certain way — which would make you hate him always — but that’s really no fun.”
Found airs on NBC Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET and new episodes are available the next day on Peacock.
