New Documentary Trailer: DEGRASSI - WHATEVER IT TAKES (2025)
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Looks like it debuts next week at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Unclear when it will air on streaming.
Degrassi: Whatever It Takes
Creators, superfans, and stars including Aubrey Drake Graham delve deep into all things <em>Degrassi</em> in this engaging history of the Canadian show that changed teen TV.
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Degrassi: The Next Generation
Whatever it takes, EW knows you can make it through this catch-up with the Degrassi Community School alumni.By Danielle Zhu
and James Mercadante
September 13, 2025 9:00 a.m. ET
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The 2001–2007 cast of 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'.Credit:
CATV/Courtesy Everett
Before Euphoria, Degrassi: The Next Generation was the teen drama that wasn't afraid to really go there.
While its envelope-pushing storylines were out-and-out ballsy for their time, the show became one of Canada's most successful TV franchises ever. Unlike its earlier chapters (The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, and Degrassi High), this next-gen iteration kept class going even after a few graduations, airing for 14 seasons from 2001 to 2015.
Across that run, a gallery of young actors brought unforgettable characters to life, with some getting their first taste of fame before becoming household names, like Drake and Nina Dobrev.
So think of this as a 10-year reunion: EW is checking in on where the OG Degrassi: The Next Generation cast has been since the final bell rang a decade ago.
Drake (Jimmy Brooks)
Drake (credited as Aubrey Graham) as Jimmy Brooks on 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'; Drake attends the London premiere of 'Top Boy' on Sept. 4, 2019.
CATV/Courtesy Everett; Karwai Tang/WireImage
Before Drake made it big as a rapper, he was simply Aubrey Graham, the Canadian teen who plays Jimmy Brooks. Jimmy is a basketball star who is shot by student Rick Murray (Ephraim Ellis) in season 4. Paralyzed from the waist down, Jimmy stays at Degrassi until graduating in season 7.
The end of Drake's time on Degrassi marked the start of his successful music career. He's released several studio albums — all of which hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — and has won multiple Grammys, including Best Rap Album for his sophomore effort, Take Care. He's also popularized the term "YOLO" (short for "you only live once") and become an Internet meme many times over. In 2018, Drake reunited many of his Degrassi castmates for his "I'm Upset" music video, and in 2023, he released his eighth studio album titled For the Dogs (which accompanied his first book of poetry).
That same year, Drake posted a voice memo to Instagram, revealing that he was high during his Degrassi audition and how he still wonders if he ever came back down.
"I go back to this day when I was like 13 or 14. I had an audition for a TV show that ultimately shaped my life,” he explained. “Before my audition, I went to this kid's house. And I, out of — I guess — a desire to be accepted, I would succumb to peer pressure, and I got high with these kids right before my audition.”
He added, “You know, maybe I'm still high, maybe I'm in some coma. And this is just, like, me playing out my ideal life. That concept has stuck with me for a lot of years.”
Nina Dobrev (Mia Jones)
Nina Dobrev as Mia Jones on 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'; Nina Dobrev attends the Michael Kors Collection Spring/Summer 2025 Runway Show in NYC on Sept. 10, 2024.
CTV; Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Nina Dobrev joined the cast as a regular in season 6, playing Mia Jones, a single teen mom who embarks on a modeling career.
"One of my first jobs ever, and you can kind of tell when you watch," Dobrev told Harper's Bazaar in July 2023. "I was very green. I didn't know what a mark was, I didn't know where you're supposed to stand. I was really learning very quickly and was probably very overwhelmed as well. But it was also a cast of other kids, like we were all very roughly the same age, and so it was really cool to have that built-in community and build those friendships that I still have to this day."
Dobrev went from Degrassi right to her most high-profile role as Elena Gilbert on the CW hit The Vampire Diaries — starring on the show for six years before departing in 2015, then returning for the series finale in 2017. The actress has also had roles in films like The Roommate (2011), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), Let's Be Cops (2014), Love Hard (2021), Redeeming Love (2022), The Out-Laws (2023), and Reunion (2024).
In October 2024, Dobrev got engaged to Olympian snowboarder Shaun White, whom she's been dating since 2020.
Shenae Grimes-Beech (Darcy Edwards)
Shenae Grimes as Darcy Edwards on 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'; Shenae Grimes attends the 21st annual Warner Bros. and 'InStyle' Golden Globe afterparty in Beverly Hills on Jan. 5, 2020.
George Pimentel/WireImage; Amy Sussman/Getty
Shenae Grimes-Beech plays Darcy Edwards, first introduced in season 4 as a conservative Christian girl. Her storyline takes a dramatic turn in season 7, when she's sexually assaulted at a party. She becomes depressed and tries to commit suicide, but eventually moves to Kenya to help build schools.
“I had always wanted to be on Degrassi,” Grimes-Beech told PEOPLE in July 2024. “That was kind of why I got into acting in the first place — just seeing these kids on television and being like, ‘Whoa, that's a thing. That's a possibility. These kids are from the city I'm from, and they're doing it, and they're my age.’ So to have an opportunity like that was obviously super surreal for me.”
“It's cool that people associate me with the show, because in my own head, I was such a small, insignificant character compared to the OG gang that we all know and love,” she added. “But people, I think because I was on at the same time as a lot of those people, they still associate me as part of that OG crew, which is an honor.”
Grimes-Beech left Degrassi after being cast on the CW's 90210, where she played Annie Wilson, a character partly based on Brenda Walsh from the original Beverly Hills, 90210. While playing Annie for five seasons, she also appeared in Scream 4 (2011) and Empire State (2013). The actress went on to book gigs in a handful of TV movies, including Love of the Irish (2025), and starred on the short-lived police procedural The Detail.
In 2013, the actress tied the knot with musician Josh Beech, with whom she has a daughter and a son.
Miriam McDonald (Emma Nelson)
Miriam McDonald as Emma Nelson on 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'; Miriam McDonald attends the Fan Expo Canada in Toronto on Aug. 31, 2018.
George Pimentel/WireImage; Che Rosales/Getty
Miriam McDonald portrays Emma Nelson, the daughter of Degrassi Junior High's Spike (Amanda Stepto) and Shane McKay (Bill Parrott), and therefore the "next generation." She's introduced as the "cause girl," taking on many social causes and organizing protests. As the series goes on, she deals with issues like cyber danger, sexually transmitted diseases, and eating disorders.
"I think the best way [Degrassi] helped navigate [real life as a teenager] was just like, the friendships we had," she said in a virtual conversation with former costar Cassie Steele for EW in July 2021. "The whole cast was like family, like the guys were our brothers, and Lauren [Collins] and Stacey [Farber] ended up being like sisters as well.... Like nothing can really describe the intimacy you have going through some crazy, rare experience."
McDonald appeared briefly on Orphan Black in 2013 and in the 2014 horror movie Wolves. She returned as Emma Nelson on Degrassi: Next Class for a 2016 episode and starred in the TV holiday movies A Veteran's Christmas (2018) and Letters to Satan Claus (2020).
Daniel Clark (Sean Cameron)
Daniel Clark as Sean Cameron on 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'; Daniel Clark smiling for a portrait in Paris in 2024.
CTV; Daniel Clark/Instagram
After appearing on shows like Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark? in the '90s — and playing the little brother in Model Behavior (2000) — Daniel Clark was cast as bad boy Sean Cameron. Sean has an on-again-off-again relationship with Emma throughout many seasons, but leaves the show when he joins the army and ships off to Afghanistan.
“It's just crazy, because you would not believe how many people have reached out thanking us and just talking about the show in new ways, and kind of helping them through [the pandemic],” Clark told Today in June 2021. “Even leading up to doing [the ATX Television Festival], it's been really cool. I've been really grateful what this series means to so many people.”
Clark's most notable role after Degrassi was as Steve in Juno (2007). Soon after, he quit acting and attended NYU. In 2015, he reunited with some of his former Degrassi costars at the Toronto premiere of We Are Disorderly. He's also worked in several media jobs and is active on Instagram.
In March 2025, Clark welcomed a child with his wife, Mandee Baulo.
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Cassie Steele (Manny Santos)
Cassie Steele as Manny Santos on 'Degrassi: The next Generation'; Cassie Steele attends Airgraft's The Art of Clean Vapor in L.A. on Sept. 6, 2019.
CTV; Jerritt Clark/Getty
For 10 seasons, Cassie Steele played Manny Santos, who is best friends with Emma Nelson. In season 3, Manny is the focus of a notable two-part episode, in which she learns she's pregnant at 14 and decides to have an abortion. However, Steele — who welcomed her first child in November 2023 — speculates Manny would be a mother today.
"I feel like Manny and I have walked step-in-step a little bit," she told PEOPLE in October 2023. "I do think she'd be a mom. She was probably always aspiring to be a mom, but I don't feel like she would have slowed down for anything. I'm sure she's got her own business somewhere; she's all set up. She's got her kids and that's that 'does it all' type of woman."
Steele's next big project after Degrassi was the CTV show The L.A. Complex, which also briefly aired on the CW in 2012. She's voiced the character of Tammy on Rick and Morty for several seasons and starred in a handful of TV movies. Steele has also pursued a music career, releasing her EP Shifty in 2012, followed by Patterns in 2014.
In 2022, Steele teamed up with Hot Lava to launch a sustainable thong line, inspired by the infamous Degrassi scene when Manny walks through school in a visible blue thong.
Steele shares her son, Austin, with her longtime boyfriend, Favi Martinez.
Jake Epstein (Craig Manning)
Jake Epstein as Craig Manning on 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'; Jake Epstein attends the season 3 premiere of 'The Umbrella Academy' in L.A. on June 17, 2022.
CTV; Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
Near the beginning of the series, many people had their eyes set on musician Craig Manning, played by Jake Epstein. In season 4, he's diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and a few seasons later, he struggles with drug abuse.
"When I first got cast [in 2002], I had a whole storyline about parent abuse, and I’d never done anything like that. I loved that first season and how Craig was pushed as a character," he told EW in July 2016. "It was a huge challenge when they wrote the bipolar storyline for him, too. At the time, mental illness was not really something anyone was talking about. There was a huge stigma attached — I had never seen [bipolar disorder] on TV, and certainly not in a teenager. I loved the opportunity to portray someone who was conflicted and not perfect. I was really proud of those episodes.
Epstein alternates between working on the small screen and the stage. The actor has notable theater credits, including Spring Awakening, American Idiot, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, and Life After. He originated the role of Gerry Goffin in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical on Broadway in 2013. On screen, Epstein has appeared on the series Designated Survivor, Suits, The Hardy Boys, and The Umbrella Academy, as well as in a few TV movies. He also reprised Craig in two episodes of Degrassi: Next Class.
In 2018, Epstein married actress Vanessa Smythe. Together, they share a son named Miles.
Lauren Collins (Paige Michalchuk)
Lauren Collins as Paige Michalchuk on 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'; Lauren Collins smiles at a movie theater in 2023.
CTV; Lauren Collins/Instagram
When Lauren Collins first appeared on Degrassi, she portrayed Paige Michalchuk as the popular mean girl, but the superficial label left as her character developed. In season 2, she's sexually assaulted by Dean Walton (Shawn Roberts), and after struggling in the aftermath, decides to press charges. Collins has praised the show for its grounded and authentic storytelling.
"The kids were relatable in appearance and in what they were wearing. It was not about fantasy," she told The A.V. Club in October 2021. "We were not trying to create this fantasy that shows like Gossip Girl or The O.C. present."
During her time on Degrassi, Collins also took on film parts in Take the Lead (2006) and Charlie Bartlett (2007), and had a recurring role on the Canadian sitcom Life With Derek in the late 2000s. She later guested on Comedy Central's The Kroll Show, where she appeared in a Degrassi parody, in addition to appearances on Sex/Life, What We Do in the Shadows, Hudson & Rex, Pretty Hard Cases, and My Dead Mom. She is set to act alongside Mia Goth, Jacob Elordi, Oscar Isaac, and more in Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein (2025).
In 2018, Collins married actor Jonathan Malen, with whom she shares two sons, Charlie and Leo.
Adamo Ruggiero (Marco Del Rossi)
Adamo Ruggiero as Marco Del Rossi on 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'; Adam Ruggiero poses for a photo at an opera house in Milan in 2018.
CATV/Courtesy Everett; Adamo Ruggiero/Instagram
Adamo Ruggiero first tried out for the role of Craig Manning, but later was cast in season 2 as Marco Del Rossi. A major storyline early on revolved around Marco defining his sexuality, which coincided with Ruggiero's own offscreen experience.
"I was a closeted gay boy, and I found myself on the show, and my life went from zero to 100," Ruggiero told The A.V. Club in 2021. "I hadn't really acted that much before. Suddenly, I was a character that was playing to all my deepest, darkest secrets, so there was a lot of negotiation of my coming out personally and a negotiation of my personally not being prepared to have those conversations because they were drawing to these pains in me."
Ruggiero guested on Canadian shows like Being Erica and Saving Hope, and also acted in a few short films. In 2015, he appeared in several episodes of the web series MsLabelled. He also hosted Degrassi's web series Straight Talk With Adamo Ruggiero, where he sat down with Degrassi alums and chatted about the show.
Speaking of Degrassi alums: Ruggiero occasionally posts throwback photos or mini-reunions with his former cast members on his Instagram account and appeared in Drake's "I'm Upset" music video.
Shane Kippel (Spinner Mason)
Shane Kippel as Spinner Mason on 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'; Shane Kippel attends the Fan Expo Canada in Toronto on Aug. 31, 2018.
CTV; Che Rosales/Getty
Shane Kippel plays Spinner Mason, whose bullying of another student leads to Jimmy getting shot in season 4. Later in the series, Spinner is diagnosed with testicular cancer, but he goes into remission. He leaves the show in season 9 after marrying Emma Nelson.
"[Degrassi] was a place for kids who were growing up and actually living these experiences, or a version of them, to see that they weren’t alone," Kippel said of the show's legacy to The A.V. Club in 2021.
Like his costar Lauren Collins, Kippel was a recurring character on the sitcom Life With Derek in the late 2000s. In 2010, he appeared in the drama-thriller film Dog Pound, where he played a juvenile inmate. Soon after, he put acting on hold to pursue music. He was the drummer of the Toronto-based rock band Dear Love. Kippel, Lauren Collins, and Adamo Ruggiero had a mini-reunion at one of his Dear Love shows.
Stacey Farber (Ellie Nash)
Stacey Farber as Ellie Nash on 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'; Stacey Farber smiles for a selfie in 2025.
CTV; Stacey Farber/Instagram
Stacey Farber joined the cast in season 2 as Ellie Nash, the goth girl. She later grows out of that phase, and when she attends university, she becomes more involved in journalism by joining The Core, the student newspaper.
In real life, Farber followed a similar path by attending the New School and interning at Teen Vogue.
After that, she starred on the short-lived Canadian sitcom 18 to Life, about a teen couple who get married after high school. Following its cancellation in 2011, Farber earned TV credits for shows like Cult, Saving Hope, Schitt's Creek, Superman & Lois, Diggstown, Virgin River, Brilliant Minds, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Additionally, the actress costarred alongside Lea Thompson on the 2023 series The Spencer Sisters and opposite another former teen soap star, The Secret Life of an American Teenager's Daren Kagasoff, in Hanukkah on the Rocks (2024).
Ryan Cooley (J.T. Yorke)
Ryan Cooley as J.T. Yorke on 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'; Ryan Cooley smiles for a selfie on the beach in 2018.
CTV; Ryan Cooley/Instagram
As J.T. Yorke, Ryan Cooley played the class clown of Degrassi High for six seasons before leaving in one of the most memorable moments of the show, when J.T. is stabbed to death outside a party.
In a 2007 interview with theTVAddict.com, Cooley revealed that the writers decided to kill off his character, which he was at peace with because he was contemplating leaving the show to attend college anyway.
"The only people who knew that I was leaving was myself, my agent, the writers, and Degrassi executive producer Linda Schuyler," Cooley told the online pop culture hub in January 2007. "It was pretty hard. It was especially hard for me not to tell my co-actors, because normally there are not a lot of secrets when it comes to storylines. It was difficult to shoot from May to August without telling anybody, but I think that people kind of had an idea. It was going around the set that somebody was going to get killed off the show. But I tried to keep the secret as well as I could."
Cooley had a few roles before starring on Degrassi, but took a break following the show to attend the University of Toronto. In 2013, he voiced Louis on the Canadian animated series Oh No! It's an Alien Invasion. According to Drake, Cooley did not appear in the "I'm Upset" music video because he thought the request was a scam.
Per his LinkedIn, Cooley is currently the Vice President of Konrad Group, a digital agency and product innovation firm.
Christina Schmidt (Terri McGregor)
Christina Schmidt as Terri McGregor on 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'; Christina Schmidt poses for a selfie in 2023.
CTV; Christina Schmidt/Instagram
Christina Schmidt plays Terri McGregor for seasons 1–3 of Degrassi. Terri is in a relationship with Rick, but when he becomes abusive — pushing her to the point of her hitting her head and falling into a brief coma — she does not return to Degrassi. In season 2, Schmidt's character becomes a plus-size model, and in real life, Schmidt pursued a modeling career after Degrassi.
"I know from my perspective and Terri's perspective — and especially being a model now and with the whole revolution of self love and body positivity and all that stuff — dealing with the issues that Terri dealt with, it was like [a] lifelong impact on people," she told Today in July 2021. "People will message me like, 'You changed my life and helped me accept my body,' when I didn't really think of that at the time."
"You know when I was filming [Degrassi], I was quite young," she continued. "I didn't personally know anyone going through an abusive relationship, and just how real that is, and seeing that on camera on a TV show dealing with teens, just how impactful that was. I didn't even realize that until now as an adult."
Schmidt is active on Instagram, where she often posts her modeling shots.
Jake Goldsbie (Toby Isaacs)
Jake Goldsbie as Toby Isaacs on 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'; Jake Goldsbie attends the screening of 'We Are Disorderly' in Toronto on Aug. 5, 2015.
CTV; George Pimentel/WireImage
Jake Goldsbie is introduced in the first episode as Toby Isaacs, J.T.'s best friend, and stays on the show until the Degrassi Class of 2007 graduates in season 7.
Like many of his costars, Goldsbie has mostly stayed out of the public eye, though he did appear in Molly's Game (2017), the Montreal Centre Segal's 2018 production of Bad Jews, and in episodes of Five Days at Memorial and How to Die Alone. He's the cofounder of the Toronto-based production company Not Bad Pictures and cohosts the sports podcast Less Than Jays.
In 2020, Goslbie married Cassie Leigh.
Sarah Barrable-Tishauer (Liberty Van Zandt)
Sarah Barrable-Tishauer as Liberty Van Zandt on 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'; Sarah Barrable-Tishauer attends the Canadian Screen Awards in Toronto on March 3, 2013.
CTV; Isaiah Trickey/FilmMagic
As Liberty Van Zandt, Sarah Barrable-Tishauer portrays the smart overachiever. In season 5, she becomes pregnant with J.T.'s baby, and the two decide to give the baby up for adoption.
"I'm glad [Degrassi] still resonates. I think even when we were picking up from the old Degrassi, there's just always these things that kids are going through, and they generally don't get talked about," Barrable-Tishauer told Refinery29 in August 2017. "Degrassi is the antithesis to shows more like The O.C. or 90210, where they're more glamorizing young people's lives and not talking about the very real and adult things that happen to young people...I know that I've had a lot of good responses where people are like, 'Thank you so much for talking about this.'"
She attended Concordia University in Montreal and graduated in 2012. Barrable-Tishauer was among the Degrassi alum in Drake's "I'm Upset" video, and she also returned for a season 2 episode of Degrassi: Next Class. She's now in the electronic music world as DJ Me Time.
Melissa McIntyre (Ashley Kerwin)
Melissa McIntyre as Ashley Kerwin on 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'; Melissa McIntyre smiles for a selfie in 2019.
CTV; Melissa McIntyre/Instagram
Melissa McIntyre was introduced as the popular Ashley Kerwin, who dates Jimmy until the season 1 finale when she takes ecstasy, kisses Sean Cameron, breaks up with Jimmy, and calls Paige a hag.
Degrassi was McIntyre's last onscreen project, and for the most part, she's kept a private life. She briefly reappeared in 2012 as a singer in former INXS frontman J.D. Fortune's band and was in "I'm Upset" with many of her Degrassi castmates. She also frequently posts content with her former costars on Instagram.
Stefan Brogren (Archie "Snake" Simpson)
Stefan Brogren as Archie 'Snake' Simpson on 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'; Stefan Brogren attends Canada's Walk of Fame's 25th anniversary celebration in Toronto on Dec. 2, 2023.
CTV; Mathew Tsang/WireImage
Stefan Brogren has been part of the Degrassi franchise almost from the beginning, appearing as Archie "Snake" Simpson on various iterations. He returned as the principal on The Next Generation for all 14 seasons.
"Did Degrassi try? I think we really tried. Could we have done better? Absolutely," he told The A.V. Club in 2021. "But I also think that we are in a minority of shows that even care to try."
Brogen returned as Snake on Degrassi: Next Class. In addition to acting, he also served as Next Class's producer (entire series) and director (20 episodes). Brogen is also the executive producer and director of the series Holly Hobbie and Popularity Papers.
He is married to comedian Michelle Shaughnessy.
I grew up watching this show and I loved it. I also met some of the characters on the show through my cousin Drake at a party he invited me to that I attended back when he was on the show.
Drake recalls getting high before 'Degrassi' audition
Drake recalls getting high before his 'Degrassi: The Next Generation' audition: 'I kind of wonder... maybe I'm still high, maybe I'm in some coma.'
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