Mark-Paul Gosselaar lands the lead in vampire series The Passage

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

People who watched youth-oriented television in the early '90s will always remember Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Zack Morris, the star of the show Saved by the Bell. I watched a whole lot of Saved by the Bell growing up, but I don't think I've seen Gosselaar in anything since he left his Zack Morris days behind him. His career has been rolling on just fine without my viewership, though, and he has transitioned to dealing with more mature material with roles on shows like NYPD Blue, Raising the Bar, Franklin & Bash, and CSI. I was hearing good things about his performance on the Fox series Pitch last year, but unfortunately that show only lasted ten episodes.

Pitch is over, but there is some consolation in the fact that Fox is obviously interested in staying in the Mark-Paul Gosselaar business. Gosselaar has been cast in the lead role in their post-apocalyptic vampire series The Passage, which is coming to us from executive producers Ridley Scott and Matt Reeves.

Based on a trilogy of novels by Justin Cronin, The Passage is 

an epic, character-driven thriller that morphs into a post-apocalyptic odyssey, which spans over a century and is told across two timelines. The story focuses on a 10-year-old girl named Amy Bellafonte who must save the human race. Gosselaar will play an FBI agent, who balks at kidnapping Amy, who has been targeted for an unholy government experiment and goes on the run with her with a veritable army of feds on his heels.

The pilot for the hourlong drama has been written by Liz Heldens and is scheduled to go into production this month in Atlanta.

Saniyya Sidney has been cast in the role of Amy Bellafonte, and co-starring with her and Gosselaar will be Genesis Rodriguez, Brianne Howey, BJ Britt, and Jennifer Ferrin.

If Fox is impressed by the pilot, The Passage still has a chance at being part of the 2017 – 2018 season.

Genesis Rodriguez in TUSK