Drake’s Degrassi reunion ‘a big party’
‘I’m Upset’ video features actors from show that launched T.O. superstar
Stefan Brogren was directing a show on the set of DHX Media, which houses the sound stage for the Toronto-based Degrassi, when he got the call.
“Would you like to work with Drake? He’s doing a reunion.”
Not just any reunion. The most epic Degrassi reunion yet. And Brogren, it turns out, landed the central role, once again playing Mr. Archie “Snake” Simpson, the school principal on the popular teen drama that has cultivated a global following.
The long-running show will undoubtedly score new fans under the imprimatur of Drake, with the music video earning more than 2.6 million YouTube views since it was posted late on Wednesday.
Shot last weekend, “I’m Upset” features Aubrey “Drake” Graham, who starred as Jimmy Brooks from 2001 to 2009, along with a who’s who cast of alumni and guest stars including Brogren, Nina Dobrev, Shane Kippel, Jake Epstein, Stacey Farber, Lauren Collins, Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith.
The video, directed by Karena Evans who also shot Drake’s videos for “God’s Plan” and “Nice for What,” opens with Drizzy in his “bedroom” at the Air Canada Centre before jumping into his (actual) $2 million-plus Ferrari LaFerrari to make an entrance at his class of 2007 high school reunion.
Drake’s Degrassi ends up being some kind of debauched alternate universe, where stu- dents dance in the halls, partying hard while the enforcer Mr. Simpson ends up buying pot from Jay and Silent Bob (Smith and Mewes). At which point the alumni basically trash the place and burn the school down.
“You have to have some fun
with it,” laughs Brogren, now a veteran television director who also has the distinction of being the show’s longest serving regular cast member, right up to its current incarnation, Degrassi: Next Class.
“These are obviously joke versions of our characters. Mr. Simpson is always laying down the law. But it was my fantasy come true. I’ve worked with Kevin Smith before, but I got to be in a scene with them where I’m buying weed from Jay and Silent Bob. And weed is going to be legal in Canada anyway, so what the heck.”
Brogren says he shot his part over two days on the weekend and the set was essentially a “big party.”
“It was extremely emotional, and we were celebrating just being together. There was a big bar, and it felt like a party. We were all there to celebrate our friend who had become not just the biggest thing in hip hop, but one of the biggest celebrities in the world,” says Brogren. “It’s really unheard of to have someone make it to that level of success, and I think it was also a fantasy for Aubrey as well.”
The at-times violent behaviour in the video seemed to have the approval of DHX Media executives, including Degrassi co-creator creator Linda Schuyler, who emailed a statement to the Star.
“It’s such a pleasure to see this group back on the steps of Degrassi after so much time has passed,” says Schuyler. “That this series has such longevity and life in multiple forms is fantastic. And the video made me smile!”
Brogren says he wouldn’t be surprised if there was pushback from fans, but the series never shied from controversy.
“Degrassi has always had issues with parent organizations about subject matter. But the cast on the show are all in their 20s or 30s and it’s for fans of that generation who are all grown up. And plus, I think it’s about the fifth time we’ve burned down the school.”