Saved By the Bell; Beverly Hills, 90210
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If you were one of the people that grew up during the 1990s, you’ll remember Tiffani-Amber Thiessen for a pair of roles that lasted for the entire decade. Not only did she star in “Saved by the Bell”, but then starred in “Beverly Hills, 90210”. Now in her mid 40s, Thiessen still looks as amazing as ever and she’s still working regularly, seemingly having a main role on a television show one after the other.
Thiessen was born in the Southern California city of Long Beach on January 23, 1974. Growing up in the area, Thiessen did multiple child pageants and also modeled, appearing in magazines while she was a teenager. Not only that, but Thiessen was a bright student and launched her acting career at the same time that she was focused on her academics. It didn’t take long for Thiessen to find success, either.
In 1989, Thiessen made her acting debut on an episode of the television show “Live-In”, but the true breakthrough came in that same year. That’s when Thiessen was cast as Kelly Kapowski, one of the main characters from “Saved by the Bell”. It’s hard to imagine anyone else taking on the role now, as Kapowski was considered to be perfectly cast.
Thiessen played the character for 75 episodes during the show’s original run, and also had multiple television movies and the short-lived series “Saved by the Bell: The College Years”. All in all, Thiessen revisited the character for five years total. Talking about who she was closest to on the set, Thiessen said “It was all of them, really,” adding that “I’ve stayed really close to Mark-Paul (Gossellar) and Elizabeth (Berkley), I talk to all the time now…I’m closest to the two of them in my adult years, but I was close with everybody when we were younger.”
During this time, she had also made guest appearances on other shows including “Married…With Children”, “Charles in Charge” and “Blossom”. She also starred alongside Pauly Shore in the film “Son in Law” in 1993 to make her big screen debut.
Thiessen didn’t wait long until she got another long-lasting role on television. In 1994, she was cast as Valerie Malone on “Beverly Hills, 90210” which took up most of the rest of the decade for her. The character was a much different one than Kelly Kapowski, too. “I’m not the girl from ‘Saved by the Bell’, and I wanted to prove it,” Thiessen said after being cast on “Beverly Hills, 90210”.
The 1990s also saw several more television films for Thiessen’s resume, as well as more guest appearances. Thiessen then wrapped up the decade with films including “From Dusk Till Dawn 2” and “Love Stinks”.
In the first decade of the new millennium, Thiessen has been in movies that include “The Ladies Man”, “Shriek if You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth” and most recently with “Cyborg Soldier”. Most of her focus as remained in television, having roles early on in the decade with shows like “Two Guys and a Girl”, “Faslane” and “Good Morning, Miami”.
These roles wouldn’t be as long as her first two big ones, though. That changed in 2009, as she was cast as Elizabeth Burke in “White Collar”. This proved to be a popular series that lasted for six seasons, with Thiessen playing an integral part. After the show wrapped in 2014, Thiessen landed a food-based show on the Cooking Channel, and since 2018 has been part of the main cast in the Netflix original series “Alexa & Katie”.
The popularity of the Netflix show meant that Thiessen wouldn’t be part of the cast of the 2019 revival of “Beverly Hills, 90210”. “I am working at the moment and busy,” Thiessen said when asked if she’d bring Valerie back. “I’m literally in the middle of my season…My shoot schedule sadly won’t allow (me to be a part of it), but I wish them well. I’m sure it’s going to be great…I don’t know too much about it but I know people are going to be excited.”
As for what the future holds, Theissen prefers to just sort of sit back and see what happens. “I really don’t have a career plan,” she said. “I like being challenged and thrown around. But it’s only acting.” Much of her time is spent with her family, as Thiessen is married to actor Brady Smith, and the couple has two children. “I have to say, I definitely picked a great guy,” she said. “I picked a guy who’s sweet, kind and is a hardworking person. He’s a great dad; he’s a great husband.”
Even though she’s had two roles that have lasted just as long as “Saved by the Bell”, most fans that meet Thiessen want to talk about the show. “It’s still pretty weird seeing young fans wearing Kelly Kapowski t-shirts,” she said. “Those shirts are floating around all the time. It’s quite interesting to see that old face of mine (even though it’s a young face). It’s kinda surreal at times. It’s funny to see how popular that character has become and still is for 25 years.”
As for how her character would be these days, Thiessen says that Kelly is “very close to her family, and I can say that’s a similarity (I have with her). I remember her having a lot more brothers and sisters than I did. I only had two, but she had a ton. That’s why if you asked where Kelly is today, I feel like she would probably have a ton of children.”
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