The hit early ’90s high school show Saved by the Bell was a Saturday morning staple for many millennials growing up, and the actors of the series were close in age to their characters. Saved by the Bell followed a ragtag group of six memorable students: the troublemaker Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), all-American girl Kelly Kapowski (Tiffani Thiessen), jock A.C. Slater (Mario Lopez), fashionista Lisa Turtle (Lark Voorhies), oddball Samuel “Screech” Powers (Dustin Diamond), and straight-A student Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley). Saved by the Bell ran from August 1989 to May 1993 as a part of NBC’s TNBC lineup.

Saved by the Bell was so popular that it spawned two movies, two spinoffs, and got the revival treatment in 2019, keeping the series’ title, though the Peacock show was canceled after its second season. The tricky thing about Saved by the Bell is that no distinct timeline is given, except for the finale in which the group graduates from high school. It’s commonly believed that Saved by the Bell seasons 1 and 2 occur during sophomore year, season 3 during junior year, and the final season during senior year.

7

Mark-Paul Gosselaar

Played Zack Morris

Since Saved by the Bell was a retooling of Good Morning, Miss Bliss, Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s character was one of the few characters from the original series to make it to the new one. When Saved by the Bell premiered in August 1989, the Zack Morris character was supposed to be about 15 years old, turning 16 sometime over the course of seasons 1 and 2.

Actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar was born on March 1st, 1974, making him the exact same age as his character (15) when the series began. The NYPD Blue actor basically grew up with his Saved by the Bell character, being roughly the same age as Zack Morris (give or take a year) during the show’s four-season run. When Saved by the Bell ended in May 1993, Mark-Paul Gosselaar was 19 years old during the finale.

6

Dennis Haskins

Played Mr. Belding

Dennis Haskins first started playing Mr. Belding in Good Morning, Miss Bliss. Like Zack Morris, his character was brought into the retooled Saved By The Bell, but as the school principal. In fact, in the original series, he was Gerald Belding, and in Saved By The Bell, he was Richard. The two were supposed to be brothers, but the characters were combined instead.

Haskins, born in November of 1950, was 38 when the show premiered just a few months before his 39th birthday. Mr. Belding’s birthday is revealed in the show as December 21, 1952, making the character a couple of years younger than the actor.

Haskins also appeared in Saved By The Bell: The New Class from 1993 to 2000, making him approaching 50 when his time in the sequel series ended. Of course, Haskins didn’t stop playing Mr. Belding then. He actually last appeared as the character in a presidential election special in 2016 at 65, and last played the character for other fictional projects in 2012 for Nickelodeon’s Victorious and a video celebrating the Carlton dance from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

5

Tiffani Thiessen

Played Kelly Kapowski

Tiffani Thiessen’s Kelly Kapowski was an entirely new character for Saved by the Bell, though she did originally audition for Good Morning, Miss Bliss. Impressed by how her acting had improved, developer Peter Engel decided to cast Thiessen as Kelly, both Zack and Slater’s love interest early in the series.

Tiffani Thiessen was born on January 23rd, 1974, meaning that she, like Gosselaar, was the same age as her character (15) when Saved by the Bell started and essentially grew up with her character, though she did leave the series for a while near the end when new episodes were ordered. When the students of Bayside High School walked the stage to graduate in 1993, the White Collar actress was 19 years old, only a year older than her Saved by the Bell counterpart.

Like Gosselaar, the actress also reprised her role for the revival series on Peacock at 45, making her about the same age as her character, now a mom.

4

Mario Lopez

Played A.C. Slater

Much like Kelly Kapowski, the Saved by the Bell character of A.C. Slater was a new addition and was not featured on Good Morning, Miss Bliss. In fact, his character is even a new student in school when the show begins. Initially, showrunners were looking for a young John Travolta-type character, who would be Italian-American and be an army brat that wore leather jackets.

After unsuccessful casting experiences for Slater, the team decided to open the pool to other ethnicities, which was how Mario Lopez landed the part. Mario Lopez was born on October 10th, 1973, making him just a year older than his character and other cast mates (16), when the show began. During the Saved by the Bell finale, Mario Lopez was 20 years old, just two years older than A.C. Slater.

3

Lark Voorhies

Played Lisa Turtle

The character of Lisa Turtle was entirely rewritten for Lark Voorhies’ casting. Initially envisioned as a Jewish girl from Long Island for Good Morning, Miss Bliss, Lisa Turtle was one of the few lucky characters to make it on to Saved by the Bell. Apparently, Voorhies’ performance in her audition inspired developer Peter Engel to rewrite the character of Lisa in order to better fit the actress.

Days of Our Lives actress Lark Voorhies was born on March 25th, 1974, making her very close in age to co-star Mark-Paul Gosselaar. What this means is that Voorhies was essentially the same age as Lisa Turtle, being 15 when the show premiered on NBC. Like Gosselaar and Thiessen, Lark Voorhies was 19 years old in the Saved by the Bell series finale, just one year older than Lisa.

Also like Gosselaar and Thiessen, Voorhies made an appearance in the revival series before it was canceled. She and Lisa would have been about 45 for the appearance.

2

Dustin Diamond

Played Screech Powers

Like Zack Morris and Lisa Turtle, Samuel “Screech” Powers was a character that carried over from Good Morning, Miss Bliss. They were the only three teen characters to continue from the show. When casting the character, it was Mark-Paul Gosselaar that vouched for Dustin Diamond to developer Peter Engel, basically saying that Diamond was Screech.

After reading for the part, Diamond was cast. However, Engel misread Diamond’s headshot, which revealed he was younger than his fellow cast members. Screech actor Dustin Diamond was born on January 7th, 1977. This means that he was only 12 years old when Saved by the Bell premiered, three years younger than Screech technically was. When Saved by the Bell ended, Dustin Diamond was 16 years old.

Diamond went on to play Screech in the sequel series Saved By The Bell: The New Class, but didn’t appear in the revival series. He last played Screech at about 23 years old, though he did voice the character for an episode of Robot Chicken eight years later. Unfortunately, Dustin Diamond was diagnosed with small cell carcinoma of the lungs in January 2021, and he succumbed to his illness a month later, passing away at 44 on February 1st, 2021.

1

Elizabeth Berkley

Played Jessie Spano

The last of the Saved By the Bell cast on the main cast list is Elizabeth Berkley, who played feminist activist and straight-A student Jessie Spano. Berkley, like Thiessen, also auditioned for Good Morning, Miss Bliss, as Zack’s love interest Karen, but was not cast because she was too tall. That being said, showrunners didn’t want to lose actress Elizabeth Berkley (who almost played Kelly), as they felt she was one of the strongest actresses that had auditioned.

It turned out that the Saved by the Bell crew were having a rough time casting Jessie Spano, so Engel decided to hand the role over to Berkley. Elizabeth Berkley was born on July 28th, 1974, meaning she was 15 years old when Saved by the Bell premiered. Like the rest of her co-stars, Elizabeth Berkley grew up and spent her high school years with her Saved by the Bell character, being 19 years old during the graduation scene in the Saved by the Bell finale.

It’s quite interesting that most of the Saved by the Bell cast are the same ages as the characters they played, much like the sitcom Friends. The actors had to spend their high school years on primetime television, presumably experiencing some of the same things their characters were within their own personal lives. Dustin Diamond’s age comes by far as the biggest surprise, as he started out on Saved by the Bell being middle-school aged and finishing the show while still in high school.

All in all, being the same ages as their characters probably helped the Saved by the Bell cast, as the various issues they all faced on the show probably hit closer to home for the young cast.