On staying relevant and mistaken identity
TORONTO Cast members of Degrassi Junior High continue to find themselves surprised by how often the series comes up in conversation. Kirsten Bourne (Tessa Campanelli), Pat Mastroianni (Joey Jeremiah), Stacie Mistysyn (Caitlin Ryan) and Stefan Brogren (Archie Simpson, a.k.a. Snake) discuss:
ON WARDROBE
Mastroianni insists his character’s iconic look wasn’t inspired at all by his real-life style. “I didn’t wear Hawaiian shirts, I didn’t wear a fedora or anything silly like that,” he says. “At the time I remember the wardrobe lady saying, ‘The reason you have the over-the-top bright green is because it looks better on 16mm film.’ We had these bright colours because it popped on television a little bit more.”
ON DEGRASSI INSPIRING A CAREER
“As soon as we wrapped Degrassi I went off to university, then teachers’ college,” says Bourne, who admits the series may have triggered her pursuit of a job in education. She started as a teacher and is now a school administrator. “I don’t have any educators in my family, so it’s possible.”
ON MISTAKEN IDENTITIES
While Mistysyn says fans often recognize her, she’s learned not to jump to conclusions in clothing stores. “I’ve made the mistake where someone’s looking at me and they say, ‘Excuse me’ and I say, ‘Degrassi?’” she pauses. “And then they say, ‘You look like the same size as my daughter. Can you try this on?’ I swear to God that’s happened to me twice where I assumed and then I felt like an idiot.”
ON STAYING RELEVANT
“We go on Twitter and we follow things,” says Brogren, who directs episodes of Degrassi: Next Class, the latest incarnation of the series. “(We read tweets) from gangs in Chicago, to kids in the suburbs of Connecticut, or somewhere in Vancouver. We make sure more than ever the stories that are necessary to feel Degrassi have a piece of truth in them.”
ON CONFLICTS OVER STORYLINES
Brogren says in its final seasons on MTV Canada and Nickelodeon the producers ran afoul of executives who “wanted the show to very much become a sitcom.” He added: “They said, ‘We love that you have gay characters, they just can’t have relationships.’ ... They’d become very much afflicted by the fear the Bible Belt was giving them.” Eventually the series was rebooted on Netflix and Canada’s Family Channel with edgier storylines. “We try to go: ‘Let’s make sure we’re still Degrassi.’”