Mitchell Hoog is the blond’ish-haired-blued-eyed star of the Peacock reboot of Saved by the Bell, in which he plays Kelly and Zack’s son, Mac Morris — permanently the comedic prankster. Mitchell himself, meanwhile, is a sensitive, thoughtful, incandescent newcomer, who’s appeared in Netflix’s 2019 biopic 'Walk Ride Rodeo’, and starred alongside Janelle Monae and Cynthia Erivo in the movie “Harriet”. His best work still ahead of him, (when he’s not meditating that is), Mitchell is on course to be cinema’s new goldenboy.

You were previously a competitive snowboarder, so how did you go from that into acting?

Unfortunately snowboarding ended due to injury. I was always in an acting class since 16 or 17, and for me, it’s not about going to class to progress or excel…class gives you a safe space to mess up and not be scrutinised for it. Also, I just absolutely love the theatre. A cold theatre with a warm cup of coffee, a story, and a good group of people is hard to beat in my mind.

In sports you get the instant gratification of winning (or losing) - so with acting, how does it feel to have that delay in an audience’s reaction to your work?

Honestly, I am still trying to deal with that delay. I have become really good at lettings things go, I for sure feel anxiety but it’s also a time to go inward and ask myself why I do what I do? Is it for critics and opinions to fulfil my own vanity? No. I’d be ignorant to say it doesn’t feel nice when good reviews do come out, but I don’t let it weigh too heavy on me. If I leave a set and have made personal connections with the cast and crew by making them laugh or relate, then my job is done and I have faith the viewers on the other side of the screen will too.

You meditate, I imagine that helps with the anxiety?

The Dalai Lama speaks of daily mediation, I kind of live by that. No good decision is made in urgency so I often find myself using meditation and contemplation for different uses. I also just really love being in solitude and letting my mind run to see where it goes.

Does having that mind control help “remove” yourself mentally from the Hollywood bubble that could be all-consuming?

Yes for sure, it helps my attention when it comes to focusing and pausing to navigate the chaos. I also have been in Los Angeles and Hollywood long enough now, that I somewhat know the ropes and just want to put my nose to the grindstone and work with good filmmakers.

You grew up in the mountains of Colorado, but live in LA - are you a nature boy or city boy?

It’s interesting, I love Los Angeles a lot. The dirt on the streets, the smell of cigarettes and taco trucks on sunset boulevard, the sound of 30 different types of music in traffic at once. It’s such a beautiful mess. I do though, feel like I have come to this crossroads in my life personally and it could be due to everything being online now, but for the next year or two I want to live in nature and travel to the city compared to vice versa. I have made mistakes as every young kid does in a city, and at times I don’t think I realised the chatter of a city was getting to me. These past few months I have taken a lot of people out of my life and stuck to my base. I spent some time in Maui and absolutely fell in love. For me, I think it’s all about balance. Cities inspire me and nature grounds me.

So how do you stay grounded in the city?

I have a painting studio at my house in LA and I would say I’m in there most nights. A journal and a canvas are the same thing in my mind, just different mediums. I also camp a good amount on weekends when filming to decompress. The ocean at least four times a week too. I just like to move and not be stagnant.

I like how you infrequently curate your Instagram too, it tells a story without words, you prefer to live life rather than post about it?

Instagram is funny to me. I have hung out around people or been in relationships where it means so much to them and to put it in a blunt way, I just do not understand the fixation on it. I don’t want people knowing where I hangout or eat or who I am around. I know I probably sound like an old man(!) but I see it as a cool way to post my film or work and want to keep it at that. Photos are a visual journal and editorials are a depiction of the moment I’m in mentally. I like when people read photos not captions.

So what’s next for you on the journey, work-wise, and personally?

One project coming up I can talk about is called Catch & Release which I am producing, with Cathryn Dylan and John Fiorentino. My company, The Collective, has a lot coming up in 2022 that I think will give a lot of people comfort in an uncomfortable time. For me personally, this past year was really tough and I have learned a lot. I am now in that phase after a rough patch where life feels giddy again. I am excited to keep relentlessly growing in all realms.

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Interview by Kate Lawson

Photography by Shane McCauley

Fashion by Derric Lowe

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