Actor, television host and entertainment journalist Mario Lopez is an multi-talented entertainer, and an award-winning Hollywood icon. Since rising to fame on sitcom Saved by the Bell, he has become a veteran actor on film and television, and has hosted shows including Access Hollywood, The X Factor and Extra. He is the creator of the 2020 Netflix comedy The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia, in which he also stars.

Lopez began acting as a child, debuting in the sitcom a.k.a. Pablo. For three years, he performed in children’s entertainment show Kids Incorporated, and later guested in Golden Girls and appeared in films including Chartbusters and the crime drama Colors. In 1989, he landed the role of A.C. Slater in high school sitcom Saved by the Bell, and would go on to play the part for four seasons, in two made-for-television features, and in the spin-off series Saved by the Bell: College Years and Saved by the Bell: The New Class. He has since appeared in series including Pacific Blue, the Ryan Murphy medical drama Nip/Tuck, and on the big screen in the mockumentary feature Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, and the comedy Get Him to the Greek. He has performed voice roles in films including Aloha, Scooby-Doo!, The Smurfs 2 and Get Smurfy.

Since the late 1990s, Lopez has worked extensively as a television host, on talent shows such as The X Factor, America’s Best Dance Crew and MTV’s Top Pop Group, on the news magazine show Extra, and on the game shows Candy Crush and Masters of the Maze. He is currently host of the long-running entertainment news programme Access Hollywood, alongside fellow anchors Kit Hoover and Scott Evans.