Mario lopez: ‘i always said that i wanted to be the latin dick clark’ 

Mario Lopez, 49, developed a serious following as high school jock A.C. Slater on the hit TV show _Saved by the Bell, _but these days he’s the one interviewing actors and other celebs as

cohost of NBC’s _Access Hollywood_ and _Access Daily with Mario & Kit_. Here, he shares whether he’s still in touch with his sitcom_ _costars, his plans to celebrate his 50th birthday,

and what he’s doing to keep in shape.  YOU TURN 50 THIS MONTH. WHAT DO YOU HAVE PLANNED TO CELEBRATE? I’m gonna take a week off of work, and I’m going to Mexico with about 30 of my closest

family and friends. It’s gonna be Lopez-palooza down there. My wife [actress Courtney Lopez] has a bunch of stuff planned. I’m looking forward to it. ANY PLANS TO JOIN AARP? I hadn’t thought

of it, but I think I’ll get a kick out of it. So now that you mention it, sure, why not? Lopez, far right, starred as jock A.C. Slater on the NBC sitcom “Saved by the Bell.” Alamy You

recently posted a video with Tiffani Thiessen on Instagram. Do you stay in touch with your other _Saved by the Bell_ costars? I do. Tiffani and I got something to eat together, and I’m gonna

see Mark-Paul [Gosselaar] this weekend. We train once in a while in jujitsu. So, fortunately, I do. IS JUJITSU YOUR FAVORITE WAY TO STAY IN SHAPE? I’m really into jujitsu and love martial

arts. And I still box. … I always say I train for sanity, not vanity. It’s a de-stressor. Other than that, I’ll take a class with my wife — spin class or whatever she wants — once in a

while, and we’ll stay active together. IT SEEMS LIKE YOU’RE NOT AGING. YOU LOOK THE SAME AS YOUR A.C. SLATER DAYS. WHAT’S YOUR SKIN-CARE ROUTINE? Well, thank you. That's very nice. I

don’t have a routine. I take a shower. I guess I’m lucky. But I drink a lot of tequila. It’s like embalming fluid — it keeps me preserved. You’ve interviewed dozens of celebrities over the

years. Do you have any wish-list names to talk to? You know, I’ve knocked everyone off my list who, growing up, I’ve been wanting to meet, because I’ve been doing this for 15 years now. I

feel very blessed and fortunate. Obviously, there’s a lot of up-and-coming young talent that would be great to meet, but all my favorites growing up — [Sylvester] Stallone, Arnold

[Schwarzenegger], [Al] Pacino, Robert De Niro — I have gotten to meet. They’ve been great, fortunately.