'Saved by the Bell' actress Lark Voorhies talks Dustin Diamond death, mental health

Fans of “Saved by the Bell” who envied Lisa Turtle’s fashion sense and shopping budget will be happy to see actress Lark Voorhies in Investigation Discovery’s docuseries revisiting NBC’s Saturday morning sitcom.

Voorhies, now 52, appears in the May 4 episode of ID’s “Hollywood Demons” (Mondays, 9 ET/PT) titled “After the Bell,” which looks at the origins of the 1989–1992 series centered on six students at Bayside High, subsequent careers of cast members, and the challenges facing Voorhies’ costar Dustin Diamond. Diamond, who played lovable nerd Samuel “Screech” Powers, died in 2021, at age 44, from lung cancer.Thinking of her roles as Lisa in "Saved by the Bell" and Lauren in the 2001 comedy “How High,” starring Method Man and Redman, Voorhies says, “It is great to bring life to these characters. When you know you’ve hit that character, there’s nothing like that rush in the world.”

But in the aughts Voorhies suffered a tumultuous time, her mom, Tricia Voorhies, says in the docuseries.

“She went through bouts of anger,” Tricia recalls. “Sometimes we’d be slamming the doors or yelling out of frustration. She would run out of the house, and I didn’t know where she was.

“I was seeing something impacting my daughter that wasn’t healthy,” Tricia adds. “It wasn’t good.”

Tricia says she was initially told that Voorhies had bipolar disorder. But professionals now believe she has Schizoaffective disorder, defined by the National Alliance on Mental Illness as “a serious mental health condition characterized primarily by symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations or delusions, along with symptoms of a mood disorder, such as mania and depression.”

With treatment, Voorhies is eager to embrace professional opportunities, according to producers.

“I’ll always be entertaining,” she says.

Reflecting on her start as Lisa, Voorhies fondly remembers filming the 1992 TV movie “Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style.”

“We got to splash each other, ride bicycles, get bit by mosquitoes,” she says. “And actually were in Hawaii so we had a good time.”

But “All in the Mall” is her favorite episode of “Saved by the Bell,” she says, “because we got to cut loose, and we had all these sets.”

Voorhies reprised her role for three episodes in Peacock’s two-season revival (2020–2021), reuniting with costars Elizabeth Berkley, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Mario Lopez and Tiffani Thiessen.

“I hadn’t seen them in years, and we got to share a talent again,” Voorhies says, “and find that ‘Saved by the Bell’ method…”

They toasted Diamond in a 2021 episode of the revival, in which they try an off-beat menu item at The Max diner, honoring their friend Screech. The five toasted their former classmate with spaghetti burgers before a montage of Diamond in character played.

“I’m glad we got that on footage,” Voorhies says, “Because he matters.”

“That was my very good friend,” she says. “I miss him.”