‘Found’: Shanola Hampton & Mark-Paul Gosselaar on Their Connection, How They Met & More (VIDEO)
One of the reasons that Found is such compelling television is simple: Shanola Hampton and Mark-Paul Gosselaar 's on-screen chemistry. That's true of them off-camera as well, as you can see in TV Insider's exclusive fun video of the two quizzing each other.
Right after Hampton warns Gosselaar that he "better tell the story right" of how they first met, he says simply, "We met in the elevator." She takes over to tell the story better—and does an impression of him, prompting him to continue it.
When it comes to pretending like they're not friends on camera—Gosselaar's Sir kidnapped Hampton's Gabi when she was younger, she then held him captive in her basement, and now he wants her to choose to return to him (which is never going to happen the way he wants it to )—the stars agree they have a chemistry. "The way that Sir looks Gabrielle, there's a true connection there," he explains. "If we didn't have that, I think it would be hard to make that work day in and day out."
For Hampton, it's not hard to get into character. "When you feel it, when you know it, when you read something, I can drop into it because I feel like I know Gabi Mosely so well, so I see the words that the writers so brilliantly write, I know where she is in her headspace, and I drop into it," she shares. "That's why it's easy for me to drop in and out because I know myself very well and I know Gabi."
Gosselaar is stepping behind the camera as well this season to direct, and Hampton has fun rewriting a question about whether he's looking forward to directing her. "I am looking forward to directing an episode of Found because we have very talented actors, a very, very talented crew, but to do it in this environment, which I think is a very safe, creative, fun environment where we do some really good work," he says.
Watch the full video above for much more from Hampton and Gosselaar about each other.
Found, Thursdays, 10/9c, NBC