The ‘Saved by the Bell’ star on confidence, comfort over glam and why she’s not chasing youth.
If you grew up on Saturday-morning TV, Tiffani Thiessen was your first style crush. She was Kelly Kapowski on Saved by the Bell, then turned up the drama as Valerie Malone on Beverly Hills, 90210, and later added best-selling author and host to her résumé. Few stars have grown up so publicly, through so many eras of television.
What fans may not know, however, is how little energy she spends worrying about aging. Now playing Miss Graves, the glamorous head of a magic school in Coven Academy on Disney+ and Hulu, she told NewBeauty what a lifetime on camera has taught her about beauty. Ahead: the advice from the women in her family, the one thing she’s cut out completely, why comfort wins over glam—and why she’s done chasing youth.
How does her confidence now compare to her teen audition days?
At 15, she believed she was confident. At 52, she says it’s on another level. After decades in the Hollywood spotlight, she’s developed a refreshing don’t-care attitude: she no longer sees it as her job to impress anyone. She’s focused on enjoying life, making meaningful memories and hoping the joy she still finds in her work rubs off on others.
What aging advice has stuck with her?
The best guidance came from home. Her mother and grandmother always told her that aging is a privilege, one to embrace with gratitude and grace. She still takes that to heart.
What has she cut from her routine in her 50s?
Not a product, but a mindset. “I have subtracted all the BS,” she told NewBeauty. That means negativity in any form, whether it comes from people, places, activities or things.
Try it: Audit your feed. Unfollow accounts that leave you feeling worse about your skin or body. It’s the fastest beauty upgrade there is.
Did playing Miss Graves change how she sees her own look?
Miss Graves cares deeply about how she presents herself, and Thiessen says she reminds her of her grandmother, who never left the house without her face on. Thiessen admires that commitment but says it isn’t her. She loves dressing up now and then, but comfort comes first.
Her glow is quite literally ageless—so what would she tell her younger self?
Embrace every stage. Looking back at old photos and videos, she remembers being hard on herself, and now sees those thoughts as wasted energy. Every stage of life, she says, is beautiful in its own way, and she looks back on each one with love.
How does she separate self-care from chasing youth?
Simple: she isn’t chasing anything. She’s living in the present and meeting each new stage with grace and gratitude.
What change in Hollywood is she still waiting for?
She’s glad to see more women embracing natural aging. What she wants more of is women showing up for one another. She’s seeing progress, but there’s always room for more women supporting women.
Sources
- NewBeauty, “Tiffani Thiessen Has ‘Subtracted All the BS,’ and She’s Never Felt Better,” Liz Ritter, Oct 2, 2026
