‘Saved By The Bell’ Reboot in the Works With Trans Teen Cast As Lead
Zack Morris is heading back to TV, well kinda.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 90s teen sitcom, , is returning to TV with a few of the original cast members and a new twist. The reprise of the iconic show will explore what happens when California Gov. Zack Morris closes many of the state’s low-income high schools and reassigns affected students to higher-performing schools, including Bayside High.
While it has been confirmed that Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkley are set to return as their original characters, “AC Slater” and “Jessica Spano”, there is no word if Mark-Paul Gosselaar will resume his role as “Zack Morris” or if the legendary character will be an ongoing factor in the reboot. Producers of the show also revealed that the lead in the reprise will center around “a beautiful, sharp-tongued cheerleader and the most popular girl at Bayside High” who is both “admired and feared” by her classmates; which is set to be played by , Josie Totah.
News of Totah’s casting comes nearly two years after the 18-year old came out as transgender a TIME Magazine essay.
Totah, whose credits include NBC’s “Champions”, the Disney Channel’s “Jessie,” and most recently seen on Netflix’s “No Good Nick,” opened up about her gender identity for the first time publicly in 2018, writing that while she always identified as she wasn’t ready to be as detailed due to trying to figure out how she wanted to identify.
“In the past, I’ve halfway corrected people by telling them I identify as LGBTQ,” she wrote. “I wasn’t ready to be more specific … I have come to believe that God made me transgender. I don’t feel like I was put in the wrong body. I don’t feel like there was a mistake made. I believe that I am transgender to help people understand differences. It allows me to gain perspective, to be more accepting of others, because I know what it feels like to know you’re not like everyone else.”
Although a release date has yet to be determined, Saved by the Bell is set to stream on NBC’s new streaming app, The Peacock set to launch in April.
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