Shanola Hampton stars in “Found” and brings missing marginalized people to light

After playing the feisty Veronica Fisher on the Showtime family dramedy Shameless for 11 seasons, Shanola Hampton knew she wanted her next project to be as socially relevant as it was creatively fulfilling. She found exactly what she was looking for on NBC's missing-persons drama “Found,” which returns for its second season Thursday.

The hit series, created by “All American” showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll, stars Hampton as Gabi Mosley, a public relations specialist who has dedicated her life to running a crisis management firm that specializes in tracking down marginalized people who years later falling through the cracks As a teenager, she survived a year in captivity.

“This is nothing new that has happened in our community,” Hampton told NBC News. “It has been talked about so much, but the mainstream world has not discussed the disparities between people of color or underserved communities and the recognition they receive in the media when they disappear in comparison to others.”

In 2017, Okoro Carroll came across an article in Time Magazine about the disappearances of more than a dozen Black and Latino children in the Washington, D.C. area and the disproportionately low levels of media coverage and police intervention they received compared to their white peers. This story cited the Black and Missing Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness for missing people of color. Okoro Carroll didn't consult with the organization until the end of the first season, but said the founders gave her their stamp of approval.

Okoro Carroll began studying the role public relations plays in missing persons cases, which can result in 600,000 new missing people each year, according to the Justice Department. She chose to set “Found” in the same world – with the added twist that Gabi is secretly holding her former captor Sir, played by “Saved by the Bell” star Mark-Paul Gosselaar, hostage in her basement and him used to solve cases. (NBC and NBC News are both owned by Comcast.)

At the time, Okoro Carroll knew that a show with a deeply flawed black female lead would be a hard sell for network television. But the tide has turned, thanks in large part to the contributions of “Grey's Anatomy” and “Scandal” creator Shonda Rhimes. The lead actors in their hit dramas—notably Kerry Washington's Olivia Pope in Scandal and Viola Davis' Annalize Keating in How to Get Away With Murder—introduced black female characters into the cultural zeitgeist, whose morally questionable choices deeply complicated and complicated them anti-heroes made popular.

“There is a portrayal that I take very, very seriously. It really weighs on me to make sure that we do for other people what Viola, Kerry and Shonda have done for us in many ways…so that it's not as hard for the next person next time,” Hampton said. “Being a dark-skinned girl on network television with natural hair – all mine – and dreadlocks is something that has never been seen on television before, even by the people I mentioned.”

For her part, Hampton was most drawn to the opportunity to play a character in which there are many. “I thought it was important to portray Gaby because she is a flawed character, because not everyone is perfect,” she explained. “People are battling their own demons, and maybe it's not a man in their basement, but (when it comes to) the healing process of trauma, especially in communities of color, sometimes we sweep things under the rug and don't discuss the traumas that.” happened in our lives.”

Hampton has also relished the opportunity to subvert the stereotype of the strong black woman: “This character shows that I'm brave and strong and all of that – all of that is true – but I'm also deeply hurt and not yet healed… Me.” thought it was really important to tell that story, and I think we’re doing a really good job of getting those layers out there.”

In the second season of “Found,” Gabi's worst nightmare has come true: Sir has not only escaped her clutches, but has now also recaptured Gabi's close friend Lacey (Gabrielle Walsh), who was once held captive with Gabi. To make matters worse, Gabi's colleagues now know she has something to do with her former kidnapper, and she must rebuild trust with them while secretly trying to find out Sir's whereabouts.

While the vengeful Gabi dealt with the question of whether she was as bad as Sir in the first season, the second season is about her wanting to pay for her actions, Hampton said in the preview. “You can’t do anything wrong without paying for it. There's so much guilt there. There is a need for repentance. There's still holding on to the question, “What kind of influence does this person have on me?” which she's never thought about before. He did a lot to her psychologically.”

While a story centering on the kidnapping of a young Black girl and its traumatic aftermath could easily veer into exploitative territory, Hampton, who also serves as a producer on “Found,” praised co-showrunners Okoro Carroll and Sonay Hoffman for doing so Telling the stories in a way that is “raw and authentic” without glorifying the abuse or violence.

“The fact that we actually brought to light what we were talking about meant so much to so many people — and not just in the black community. “This has resonated in every underserved community,” said Hampton, who noted that audiences remain divided on how to define the twisted dynamic between Gabi and Sir. “But most of the responses were, 'Thank you for finally telling our story in a way that people will listen,' because we made it entertaining.”