“Degrassi” remains one of Canada’s longest-running franchises, spanning almost four decades and multiple television series, books and movies. Ask any Canadian adult if they have a core “Degrassi” memory and chances are they’ll have one, whether it’s the dark events of the “School’s Out” special, Drake’s character getting shot or the show’s relaunch on Netflix.
Over the years, there have been a handful of productions that went behind the scenes of the long-running institution; now the new “Degrassi: Whatever It Takes” aims to be the definitive documentary on the subject, celebrating the show’s signature same-age casting, and trail-blazing storylines and characters, along with the IRL impact it had on many people’s lives (one anecdote features a person saying that “Degrassi” prevented them from committing suicide).
It will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 13.
The documentary is unique, however, in how deep it goes into how making the show itself affected the cast members who brought it to life.
Spoiler alert: many of them still bear the scars of making “Degrassi” today. The film documents everything from the noninclusive wardrobe for Black character B.L.T. to the effect that co-creator Linda Schuyler had on the inner life of her “kids,” to the perceived lack of fair compensation. The legacy of the show is undeniable, but this unflinching documentary skilfully showcases how it’s a complicated one, too.
Executive producer Carrie Mudd was inspired to make the film because of her daughter. Her teen started watching every single episode of “Degrassi” (no small feat, given that there are around 500 episodes); halfway through, she told her mom, “You should make a documentary on this.”
Mudd agreed. “The fact that she connected as a 13-year-old with something that I was a huge fan of at her age was amazing,” she said. “That origin story is really interesting because it says everything about the impact that this franchise continues to make.”
Mudd recruited “Sex With Sue” filmmaker Lisa Rideout to take the helm. Rideout had her own “Degrassi” core memory; she would binge OG reruns in the late ’90s, gabbing about the show with a pal on a landline as they watched.
“Lucy’s character was the first mixed-race family that I ever saw on TV. I came from a mixed-race family and I lived in a place that didn’t have a lot of diversity, so it was really meaningful for me to see that for the first time,” Rideout remembered.
“Degrassi” offered an authenticity that most TV shows did not.
“As a fan of the show, it was clear to me why the show was impactful on those who watched it,” Rideout said. “But some of the things that made it impactful for us — the authenticity, the same-age casting — made it challenging for those teen actors at points. They were telling these stories like ‘I got my first period’ or ‘I had a boner,’ and then having to go to school and be teased for some of that stuff because they’re teenagers.
“On other shows you’re 25 and you’re playing 15, but they are young. And I hadn’t seen them be super candid about the challenges they faced being teen actors and … we feel honoured they were able to share that with us, to be open and talk about things that they haven’t before.”
A large number of cast members from across all the various “Degrassi” series appear in the documentary (yes, even Drake, who is just as candid as everybody else), despite casting being more of a struggle than anticipated, according to Rideout. (Pat Mastroianni, a.k.a. Joey Jeremiah, for example, is a notable no-show). Two fan favourites from the original series feature extensively, however: Amanda Stepto (Spike) and Stacie Mistysyn (Caitlin).
Mistysyn was eager to take part in a documentary that brought to light the darker side of her story, which hadn’t been addressed much previously.
“I’m speaking for myself, mostly, but I know there’s a lot of other people from the original cast that have been carrying a lot of baggage from our experience of the show. Obviously it was a great experience, but there was a lot of psychological stuff in regards to our relationships that are still ongoing,” Mistysyn said.
“So the most pertinent thing I wanted (people) to know was that being on the show has a cost.”
She was hyperaware of her and her parents being recognized in public. She had all kinds of eating disorders. She was suicidal. The documentary also reveals that many cast members struggled with their relationship with Schuyler, which often blurred the line between boss and parent.
“They didn’t necessarily know or care what was going on in our personal lives. I mean, they would use our personal lives for stories and, at the same time, they weren’t there for us to help us with the rest of it,” Mistysyn continued.
Taking part in the documentary wasn’t an immediate yes for either her or Stepto, given the sensitive subject matter.
“There was a lot of apprehension at first,” Stepto said. “We had to gain some trust with others who were doing the documentary because we felt, as much as there was great things that happen on the show, you’re a kid and you kind of feel taken advantage of after a while with certain things.
“It was a little strange to do it and we had a lot of fear, and Stacie and I aligned as a package deal right from the beginning because we’re like, throughout our careers, we felt that not everyone had our best interests at heart, right?
“Her and I, we have each other’s back, so we were like ‘We’re doing this together, we’re gonna do everything together,’ and it was nice to have the experience and realize, ‘Oh, OK, I, I think this documentary is based on a general interest in the show: no one was trying to steal something from us, no one was trying to take something from us,” Stepto continued.
“They wanted to hear our real stories, our real experiences, and I think the documentary is a great expression of that: it was really well done, a mixture of the positive and the negative.”
Even all these years later, Mistysyn said, it’s amazing how much it all still affects her.
“Watching (the documentary) with Amanda was really nice — and hard — but even after watching it, my mind has been reeling and it’s been bringing up all kinds of emotions,” she said.
“And,” she laughed, “it’s amazing how much I feel like I do need some therapy!”
