Growing up, I had the BIGGEST.CRUSH.EVER. on Mark-Paul Gosselaar. Watching Saved by the Bell wasn't a hobby—it was a passion. I dreamt of Zack Morris picking up his gigantic phone, calling me up and asking me to go on a date with him (instead of Kelly Kapowski). He was a total stud ... and the adorable blond locks were icing on the cake.

When I found out MPG wasn't a natural blond (once Dead Man on Campus came out), I'm slightly embarrassed to say I was disappointed. I had no idea he wasn't a natural blond. Turns out, it took a lot of work and upkeep to maintain that look.

In a recent interview with People magazine, MPG dishes about what it was like to play Zack, and how fortunate he is that he didn't turn out like so many other child actors did.

Below, an excerpt from the People interview:

“I feel things work because of the amount of effort that you put into it, you’ll see a return. That was the way it was for Saved by the Bell. We didn’t take anything for granted on that show.” And that work ethic extended to the toil required for the blond hair sported by the naturally brunette Gosselaar.“I sat every three weeks in a chair getting my hair done by someone on the set putting in foils,” he says. “I’m lucky that I came out the way I did. It really could have scarred me.” We’re happy to see that Gosselaar takes his blonde days in stride, even turning up on Jimmy Fallon's couch in full Zack Morris Costume—down to his perfectly highlighted hair.