Mario Lopez and Dustin Diamond met on the set of the Saturday morning sitcom “Saved by the Bell” in the late 1980s and worked together for four years on that program, plus another one on the “College Years” spin-off. Lopez was a cool athlete called AC Slater, while Diamond played the school geek, Samuel “Screech” Powers ”, but the characters were part of the same group of friends and off-screen, says Lopez Variety, Diamond “was like a fun and goofy little brother.
The news of Diamond’s death from cancer on February 1 came as a big shock to Lopez, even though he knew his friend and former castmate was ill. (Although Diamond continued to star in “Saved by the Bell’s” another spin-off, “The New Class”, for six years, while Lopez expanded his career to another acting, hosting and production of other properties, the two kept in touch throughout of the years, Lopez says.)
“I actually just spoke to him a few weeks ago. He was reluctant to enter [to the hospital] for a while because he didn’t know if anything was going to come out. And I said, ‘Man, this is silly, you have to go in there and take care of yourself and forget what people are saying.’ Some people thought his illness was a joke, which is horrible, but the internet always tells stories. When all of this was happening, I was optimistic that he would recover, but it was obviously too late, ”says Lopez.
“From when I found out he was sick until he passed away, it was incredibly fast. It is so new that it is incredibly difficult to process. And it is shocking because he was so young; he was only 44 years old. I honestly thought, ‘There is no way [he won’t make it]. It sucks, but it will recover. ‘”
Diamond was a few years younger than the rest of the cast of students at Bayside High (Lopez himself was born in 1973, while Diamond was born in 1977), and reflecting on his time working with Diamond as a teenager, Lopez remembers the actor and comedian as “A silly boy”.
“We shot a lot in the summer, so it was a lot of youthful, silly and fun antics that we would like to do. I thought he was a funny boy. I liked to have fun and he was like my side kick; But Lopez also recalls that Diamond’s comedy scams were real, even at such a young age. “He was an icon,” says Lopez. “In general, his little looks and facial expressions and voice and the way he cracked, was just the idiotic and adorable fun nerd par excellence [character] and it really resonated with children. And that was all of it; he was like Screech in real life. “
On “Saved by the Bell” as a whole, Lopez adds: “He was an integral part of chemistry and comedy, and I don’t know if it would have worked without him”.
Lopez recently starred and served as a producer in the first season of Peacock’s “Saved by the Bell” sequel. Although Diamond did not reprise his role as a guest star, his character was referred to.
“We were really expecting him to make an appearance in Season 2,” says Lopez. “Now I’m really going to push for some kind of tax. I would love an entire episode dedicated to some of your most iconic moments or something. We have a lot of very creative minds that can try to figure that out, but I haven’t had those conversations yet. “
“I reached out to his family and I’m at peace knowing that I was always by his side, I kept in touch with him. He will continue to be in my prayers, along with his family, but he knows he has a friend in me, ”adds Lopez.