Shanola Hampton on tantalizing mystery series ‘Found’: ‘It’s always going to leave you wanting more’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
“It was a surprise really to everyone,” remembers “Found” star and producer Shanola Hampton about the big reveal at the end of the pilot episode. Creator and showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll didn’t tell her ahead of time. “She told me about the character and what she stood for and the cause that she was fighting for and the backstory, but never told me the twist.” Watch our exclusive video interview with Hampton above.
Hampton stars as Gabi Mosley, who was kidnapped 20 years ago but has turned that trauma into her life’s work. Now she and her team of investigators search for missing persons who have fallen through the cracks. But they’re not the only ones helping her. As we learn at the end of the pilot, she has kidnapped her former kidnapper, Sir (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), and forces him to share insights into the mind of an abductor so she can locate the victims and bring them home safely.
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“I was shocked to say the least,” says Hampton. “And I also said immediately, this is a part that I have to play. Not only is she layered, not only is the topic relevant and something that we should be discussing, and looking for those who are in underserved communities, but we’re doing it with such a brilliant twist. I knew that this was something I had to do.”
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At the end of season one (SPOILER ALERT), Sir escapes and Gabi’s secret comes out, leading to an emotional scene between her and her colleagues. But we don’t hear the words she says when she tells them the truth. We only see their reactions. “True art is not in the words, but it’s in the emotion,” Hampton explains. “I think that if you watch a lot of the shows that you really loved and you watched it without the sound on, you’d be amazed at how much of the story you can read and feel through just watching.” Carroll was “very clear that this was going to be a moment that no one would hear, but feel. I think it was impactful.”
The show was renewed for a second season in November, and as we spoke to Hampton she was in the middle of production, her co-star Karan Oberoi sitting nearby. “We come out with a bang,” she says of upcoming episodes. “I can tell you that season two does not disappoint … I am in awe of what they’ve been able to come up with story-wise. You get to see more of some of the other characters’ history. We really get into it, and we leave you with cliffhangers just like season one, but even bigger ones. It’s always going to leave you wanting more, and that’s all you can ask for in a project.”
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