Shanola Hampton Says the ‘Found’ Finale Will Bring the Unhinged and Crazy

The Big Picture

• The NBC series Found explores important and sensitive topics that aren’t widely addressed enough, such as missing persons cases and societal inequalities.
• The character of Gabi Mosely has a complex and fragile mental state, which is explored throughout the series.
• The chemistry between Gabi and Sir is unique and intriguing, with an undefined dynamic that adds tension and unpredictability to their scenes together.

The NBC drama series Found, which has already been picked up for a second season, follows recovery specialist Gabi Mosely (Shanola Hampton) who, along with her team that are all hoping to overcome their own trauma by helping others, is dedicated to finding the missing and forgotten that the traditional authorities tend to let slip through the cracks. But while the rest of her team is working through their trauma on a road to find healing, Gabi is holding her childhood kidnapper (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) in the basement and using him to help with every case, convinced that she’s dealing with her own trauma when, in reality, it’s preventing her from truly healing.

Collider recently spoke to Hampton, who is also a producer on the series, about wanting to tell stories about people who don’t typically have a voice, not always resolving every case, the reaction she had when she first learned about the twist in the premise of the story, what she loves about Gabi Mosely, the weird onscreen chemistry she’s developed with Gosselaar and how much she enjoys their scenes together, working with this ensemble, and that the season finale (which airs on January 16, 2024) will leave fans wanting more.

Collider: I love a show that disguises itself as a procedural, and then sneaks all the other good stuff in under that.

SHANOLA HAMPTON: Thank you. That’s one of the things that drew me to doing it.

Hampton Wants to Tell the Stories of the Often Voiceless

You’ve said that now is the time to do this show. What are you getting to explore with this that you’re finding particularly fulfilling?

HAMPTON: First of all, we’re telling stories that haven’t really been told in this way before and we’re really digging into something that could be sensitive for a lot of people. A lot of times people think it’s one side or another and they don’t wanna just say, “Okay, this is a fact of our world. It’s not a political thing. It’s just a fucking fact of our world. Can we all just say that this is what’s been happening and try to move the needle to change that?” When you see two people go missing at the same time and they’re from different backgrounds, but only one gets the media attention and hashtags and everybody knows that name, that’s just a fact of what’s happening and we wanna change that. And it’s not just people of color, but it’s elderly people, homeless people, and sex traffickers. It’s just a way of human beings, that we all get to share this earth with, who all deserve the same quality and love and attention, and we get to now show those stories. That’s been really big for me and that’s why now is the time for it.

This is also one of those shows where you want to resolve the case every time, but you can’t because it wouldn’t be realistic if you had a happy ending in every episode. I would imagine it’s hard to find that balance too, just on a personal level.

HAMPTON: It really is. That’s why it was so good, the episode where we did the trafficking episode and Gabi was able to save one young man and not the other young man, and he’s hurt and she’s really battling with that. She wants to be the hero running to save everybody and send them home, and when she doesn’t, it really rocks her mental state even more than her mental state is rocked.

Would you have done this series if Gabi didn’t have the secret in her basement? Did that twist feel like it was necessary?

HAMPTON: No one has ever asked me that question before. Did I feel like it was necessary? On a personal level, would I have done it? I don’t know because it did have the twist. When I saw the twist, I was like, “I have to do this character.” Reading the script up until that point, I was like, “Oh, this is really good. This is such an important message. This is relevant.” And then, the twist happened and I was like, “Now, I have to do this.” I don’t know that I would have not done it because I get to work with really great people like (showrunner) Nkechi [Okoro Carroll], who leads with love. But the twist definitely made me go, “I must play her.”

Each One of Us Are Capable of Things We May Not Think We’re Capable Of

When it came to that twist, what were you most worried about or concerned about being able to actually pull off?

HAMPTON: I wanted to make sure that I didn’t judge why she made the choice. I wanted to be able to pull off the fact that this is a human being and given the circumstance, each one of us are capable of things that we may not think we are capable of. We don’t wanna do bad things, and mostly we won’t. But you never know, the brain is so fragile and the mental state is so fragile, the way that you can do things in your head can oftentimes lead to bad decision-making and I wanted to make sure that I showed that portion of it to humanize it and not judge her.

What have you loved about Gabi Mosely since day one? Are there things that sold you on her, from the very beginning?

HAMPTON: So much. I love that she used something traumatic and made it her purpose. Instead of wallowing in the pain, she saw it as an outlet to heal, bit by bit, but also to save other people. I love that she has the mama bear that I myself have in me, in real life, wanting to save everybody and wanting everybody to do well and wanting everybody to heal. And I love that she can run in heels because I do my own stunts and I run in heels.

Are there aspects of Gabi that you either didn’t realize were there at the start of this or that have evolved and come out as the series has gone on and there’s been time to peel back those layers?

HAMPTON: I think the fragility has really snuck up on all of them, how fragile she really is. You think you’d have it all together and in your mind, you can convince yourself that, “I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine.” She’s fragile and she’s sensitive to wanting to make sure that everyone is okay. That’s something that I didn’t necessarily see when I first read it, but that revealed itself and it made me see how childlike she still is. There’s still that little girl inside of her. That was something I wasn’t expecting.

The Finale Will Be Unhinged and Crazy

It’s easier to be able to keep a secret if it’s something that you can put out of your mind and you aren’t confronted with on a constant basis. It’s another thing entirely when you’re actively hiding this person in the basement and you have people that come over. Was it only a matter of time before all this would start to catch up with her and some of these fractures would start to happen?

HAMPTON: Yes. It’s important to note that no one has been to the house since Sir was in the basement. Now, you’re watching these people knock on the door and she’s like, “What the hell. What is happening?” When Trent enters that house, that’s a very big moment because, yes, she is guilty and she’s the one that cost him his job, but also, that’s the very first person to enter her house since Sir has been there. It’s definitely very shaky ground. There’s so much uncertainty and a lot of unhinged that is happening that will continue throughout the finale. It’s crazy, I promise you.

How did you go into the relationship between Gabi and Sir? How did you and Mark-Paul Gosselaar approach that? Did you guys have a conversation about how you wanted their dynamic to play? It’s so incredible to watch the scenes between you guys because there’s such an electricity to them.

HAMPTON: Thank you for saying that. Those are my favorite days to shoot. Any day in the basement is a great day for me. That’s what you want, as an actor. You wanna be able to go in and play. No, there was no conversation because Mark-Paul and I didn’t need one. We looked at each other, we did the first scene, and we were like, “I got you, and you’ve got me.” It was not planned. It was just an organic thing that happened, and then continued to grow. It’s so much fun. It’s so good to work with a partner who is so available for anything, in any way a scene is gonna go. For me, it’s been truly magical.

So much energy builds between the character that every scene they’re in together feels like it could either end with them kissing each other, or picking up a knife and slitting each other’s throats. It’s insane.

HAMPTON: Yeah, it’s a very weird chemistry. Crazily enough, it’s not actually sexual. It’s just weird. Usually, when you see this kind of chemistry, you think they’re gonna jump each other’s bones at some point. This is not a father-daughter thing. It’s the weirdest chemistry. It messes with me because, what is it? It’s an undefined, not seen before chemistry on TV. You think about Hannibal, but it’s not that either. It will all come to a head.

There Is A Long-Term Plan For Where This Series Is Headed

It makes me wonder where all of this will go in Season 2?

HAMPTON: I know! It’s funny because I was at that point. I was like, “Well, what do we do now?” But then, Nkechi was like, “I have a plan.” And she does have a plan. It’s a long, masterful plan. You have to have a great showrunner with great stories in their head.

When it comes to this decision that Gabi made to keep this guy in her basement, are you surprised she made that decision and she didn’t decide to turn him into authorities or kill him herself? Where do you think that decision ultimately came from with her?

HAMPTON: I’m not surprised because I think surprise would indicate that there is some judgment of who she is, but I know where it came from. When you have something really bad happen to you, as Gabi has had happen, you try to heal from it, but it still bothers you. You wanna make sure no one else experiences that. It probably was just her sitting down in a hotel lobby with a cup of coffee and saying, “What can I do? Wait, if I find him, I can use him to help solve cases because if you need to get into the mind of a monster, you do so with a monster.” That’s as far as it went. It wasn’t laid out in her journal with, “And then, after keeping him for 365 days . . .” It seemed like a great plan. People do these things on instinct. They just go in and do it, but it’s not really thought out, and that’s what it was for Gabi. She didn’t think past the fact that she can use him to help solve cases. She’s using the monster to find a monster.

There are so many layers to the mental aspect of it. Do you think he’s helping her come to terms with everything, or do you think he’s preventing her from experiencing real healing?

HAMPTON: He’s definitely not helping her come to terms. If anything, it’s been such a cloud over her. It’s been such a distraction from her own growth while other people are taking the proper steps. Her whole goal is to help everyone at M&A get to their point of healing and go through the healing process, but while they’re moving forward, she’s taking so many steps back, mostly because she still has this man there. How can she even begin that process?

It’s Important to Know That Trauma Has No Specific Face, Gender or Age

This show really handles trauma in a beautiful way. We see these characters recognize that they’re each dealing with it, they acknowledge what it does to others in their lives, they don’t have all the answers, and realizing that is huge. It’s also something that’s ongoing and not just wrapped up in one episode. What’s it like to be part of an ensemble of actors where the characters that you’re playing are always trying to support each other and be there for each other? How does that help you guys bond as these characters?

HAMPTON: What’s really wonderful is that everybody has a story in this. What the show has done super well and super different from any other procedural is that the cases are over about 10 minutes before the episode ends. Usually, the case is over, you go to the commercial, and then the next show comes on. With this, we go into the lives of these individuals. You get to know Margaret and Dhan and Zeke and Lacey, and all the things that they went through. What’s great about that is that great actors will come in and really do the work, like Kelli Williams and Karan Oberoi, and really tell their story from that earnest place. It’s been beautiful to watch it unfold. It leaves the audience to want to find out more about happened and what led to that place. Before you get to go on that true healing journey with them, you wanna understand how the tragedy occurred and how it really has affected them to this point. That’s really fun. We’ll get to do that in future seasons. The most important thing is showing that tragedy, trauma and healing has no specific face, no specific gender, and no specific age. It’s everywhere and it’s different for everyone, and that’s okay. Hopefully, people who are experiencing that feel a little less alone.

You’ve said that there will be satisfaction by the end of this season.

HAMPTON: Yes!

Will there also be new questions? Will we get a glimpse into what Season 2 could be?

HAMPTON: That’s a good question. Yes, there’s satisfaction. Yes, a lot of questions will be answered. And yes, there will be a cliffhanger that makes you want more. How that will look, I’m still questioning. I just don’t know. You’ll be left thirsty. It’ll be like a dry cracker in your mouth. But what Season 2 will look like, no one will be able to figure out because so much happens in Season 1, where do they go next? That’s out of my pay grade.

What Makes Someone A Monster?

When you learned the answers to the big questions this season, what was your reaction to them? Were they things that you had ever imagined? Did you have an idea of where things were going?

HAMPTON: One of the most shocking parts was finding out the history of Sir. I found that to be such a touching look into how a monster becomes a monster in life. You’re not born that way. Well, some people could argue that you are, but there’s generally something that has happened to impact your life that makes you turn into that. So, that was really insightful. As far as for Gabi, I knew that for a human being to be able to carry all that she’s carrying was not sustainable, but how it comes to a head was a lot.

Found airs on NBC and is available to stream at Peacock.

Watch at Peacock