Icon. That’s one way to describe the rise and longstanding fame of contemporary Latino actor Mario Lopez. A two-time Emmy winner, Lopez has worked in the entertainment industry for over 20 years. He is often considered one of the hardest working men in Hollywood and has garnered international acclaim.
Lopez, however, shows no signs of slowing down.
While most fans recognize him from his role as A.C. Slater on the beloved 90s sitcom Saved By the Bell, his greatest achievement comes from his role as a father. Between a busy career, familial obligations, and his various business ventures, balance isn’t always easy to achieve. One way he does find the balance comes from including his family members in most of his creative pursuits.
Born in 1973 in Chula Vista, California, Lopez is the son of Mexican immigrants. He began working in the entertainment industry at ten years old. His stellar dance background and athleticism helped open doors for him as he broke through to work in commercials and television shows. His resume includes roles on Kids Incorporated, Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story, Nip/Tuck, The George Lopez Show, and Dancing With The Stars.
His star power has helped him move into the world of hosting, with gigs on major shows like Name Your Adventure, Extra, America’s Best Dance Crew, the Miss America Pageants, and The Wendy Williams Show, among others. He also has his own show, “On With Mario López,” which streams daily on iHeart Radio.
In 2019, López joined NBC’s Access Hollywood where he reports on celebrity news. Between hosting duties, he’s acquired lucrative endorsements and partnerships with virtual dining concepts, as well as tequila and fitness brands. He is a New York Times Best best-selling author of Just Between Us, Extra Lean: The Fat-Burning Plan That Changes the Way You Eat for Life, Extra Lean Family. He’s also written a series of children’s book titled Mud Tacos and Mario and Baby Gia.
Mario chatted with us about his latest Menudo project, his favorites places to travel in México, and shares his personal advice on how to balance family and career.
You’ve recently held auditions for Menudo. I'm so excited about this! What inspired you to revive the band?
I was always a fan—they’re an iconic band, of course. To be honest, I got the idea once BTS became such a huge phenomenon; to see a band from a completely different country, not even speaking the language, find such success. That’s the beautiful thing about music. It transcends.
They reminded me of Menudo because obviously those were Latin boys, they spoke Spanish. I thought you know what? It's been a while, why not revisit that? We talked about getting the rights. We talked to the right people and thought it might be a good time to kind of revisit that again and reintroduce them to the world and to a new generation.
What are a few Mexican traditions that your parents celebrated with you as a child that you’ve passed down to your kids? How important is it to you that your kids are immersed in Mexican culture?
We do as much as we can with the language, but it’s hard because they’re not immersed in that community. My grandparents and parents do a good job! Aside from a lot of the food, we just expose them to a lot of things in the culture—being around different types of people, you know. We do Dia De Los Muertos and the movie Coco helped with that. We just try to expose them to their culture and they are very proud of it.
What part of México is your favorite part? Do you have a place that you love to go to every year?
My parents are from Culiacan, Sinaloa. I love Sinaloa! We’re actually going to México because it’s our birthday week. We go to Puerto Vallarta a lot, we go all over. We really like Punta Vita and Vallarta. It’s not too long of a flight from L.A., so we spend a lot of time down there. It’s a special place for us.
I'm sure you've gotten asked quite a bit throughout the years about what it was like playing A.C. Slater on "Saved by the Bell.” Do you feel that role played a huge part in what you're doing now?
Never did I think that a Saturday morning show would be on 30-something years later and that I can get to revisit it. I’m very grateful for the opportunity and I have nothing but fond memories. It was…a big part of my life.
It’s exciting to see that you involve your entire family in some of your projects. Does that play a big factor in deciding what type of projects you work on?
I’m big family oriented guy. They’re my top priority and I work so hard to provide for them and to take care of them. They like to get in on the action and it’s a time we can all do together and it's fun! We can spend time together and everyone participates together— it’s the best.
How do you balance everything with so many projects all at once? What advice would you give to busy Latino dads trying to keep it all together?
I think you have to manage your time right, get your priorities in order, and don't let anything interfere and constant communication with your wife so she could be understanding. She really is the glue that holds it all together. She helps with the kids and their busy schedule and my busy schedule. It’s a united team effort.
I love the story of how you visited a curandera as a child. Are you still implementing some of those alternative medicine practices in your current lifestyle?
I’m already open to alternative medicine being that I’m a product from it and that was from my dad. He took me down to Mexico as a little kid; I’m very open minded about it.
You have a myriad of businesses, what advice do you have for future Latino or Latina business owners?
It’s just like anything—I think there are really no short cuts. Whatever you’re passionate about, channel your energy and time towards that. It's about being consistent and disciplined. Eventually, something will come from it.
It might not even be the same thing you're focusing on, but something else that'll open the door. It could be a whole new career or open up a whole new passion. I think there's something to be said for consistency and discipline—that’s how I try to live my life.
You can catch Mario as Billy Holiday in Lifetime's "Steppin into the Holiday," this December.
Creative Credits
- Written by
- Christina Rosas Anastasiou
- Photography
- Meagan Shuptar
- Retouching
- Brianna Kish
- Grooming
- Rodney Rinks
- Clothing provided by
- Regard Style House
- Fashion direction
- Katie Schuppler
- Styling
- Christina Rosas Anastasiou
- Associate editor
- Katie Mikesell
- Cinematography
- Isaac Alvarez for Unplug Productions
- Cinematography
- Rafal Cwiok for Unplug Productions
