Shanola Hampton Talks Taking Risks inFound: ‘I Won’t Be Put in a Box’ (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Shanola Hampton in ‘Found’.Photo:Matt Miller/NBC

Matt Miller/NBC

Audiences are discovering a whole new side toShanola Hampton’s talents inFound.

The 47-year-old actress is captivating viewers weekly on NBC’s hit procedural as Gabi Mosley, a commanding public relations specialist and crisis manager leading her own firm of private investigators, tech experts and lawyers searching for missing people the police have overlooked — all the while secretly consulting with her former kidnapper, Sir (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), whom she has trapped in her basement decades after escaping his hostage.

“I won’t be put in a box,” Hampton tells PEOPLE in a chat for this week’s issue. “If you meet me, you’ll know that there’s no box you’re going to put me in. So it was very much intentional in the reading material I was pursuing but I wanted to do switch it up. And you know what that takes? That takes having faith in yourself. I told myself, ‘You don’t have to be Veronica forever. She’s cool, you love her, but you’re not going to do her next. You did her for 11 seasons. Time to show them who else you can be.’ "

Shanola Hampton at the 2024 TCA Summer Press Tour.Katie Flores/Variety via Getty

Katie Flores/Variety via Getty

Hampton didn’t just want to show her range; she also looking to make a difference. “I intentionally wanted to challenge myself while doing something that didn’t just entertain, but also has social relevance,” she says. “And from the second I talked to [creator]Nkechi Okoro Carroll, I knew this was the job to take because I knew it would make a difference.”

Found, which Hampton also produces, does just that. The show puts a spotlight on the more than 600,000 cases of people who are reported missing in the U.S. each year, many of which don’t make the news.

“These kinds of stories have never been told in this way,” says Hampton. “We’re doing a procedural, which is not a new formula, but these are cases you don’t normally see. And so much of the feedback we’ve heard from fans has been about how relevant, how timely and how inspiring the show is. It makes me proud because from the beginning, I’ve said, ‘Now is the time forFound’ and its proven to be true.”

Shanola Hampton in season 2 of ‘Found’.Matt Miller/NBC

There’s another layer toFoundthat Hampton praises, and it involves the space its 22-episodes allows for complicated stories to be told. That’s especially proven in season 2, when — after coming clean to her team about holding Sir captive — Gabi’s closest allies turn their backs on her.

“Oh, there’s no quick fix to this,” Hampton tells PEOPLE. “Gabi wants forgiveness for what she did [but it] doesn’t mean she gets it right away. You can’t do something out of character and not pay the price for it. So we really take the time to show the impact of Gabi’s actions on the people around her, how she pays penance for those actions and how these people can get to a place of healing after something traumatic has happened.”

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Shanola Hampton on Oct. 2, 2024 in New York City.XNY/Star Max/GC Images

XNY/Star Max/GC Images

And ultimately, that’s one of the biggest lessons Hampton has learned from playing Gabi.

“Gabi’s a complicated women!” she says. “But she’s really taught me, especially this season, that your biggest mistake doesn’t define you. We don’t always get it right. Maybe it’s not something as huge as locking a man in the basement who had previously kidnapped you when you were a kid, but we all have times where you try to do the right thing and it doesn’t work out. And it’s important to have that reminder that it’s okay to make mistakes.”

“If you really dig into our show, that’s what it’s really about. It gives grace to broken people in a way that we don’t give grace to ourselves,” Hampton adds. “We can all use that.”

Foundairs Thursday at 10 p.m. ET on NBC. Episodes can also can be streamed on Peacock.

For more on Shanola Hampton, pick up this week’s issue ofPEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.

source: people.com