After weeks without any news, Degrassi fans got a surprise this weekend when it was revealed that The Toronto Star was doing a 3-page feature on the cast’s reaction to the Degrassi reboot.
The article, which was in yesterday’s print version of the Saturday Star, includes interviews from Ephraim Ellis (Rick), producer and writer Aaron Martin, Alicia Dea Josipovic (Bianca), Miriam McDonald (Emma), Ana Golja (Zoe), Chloe Rose (Katie), Billy Parrott (Shane), co-creator and executive producer Linda Schuyler, Stacie Mistysyn (Caitlin), Cristine Prosperi (Imogen), Sara Waisglass (Frankie), Olivia Scriven (Maya), Aislinn Paul (Clare), Annie Clark (Fiona), Eric Osborne (Miles), and Melinda Shankar (Alli).
There is no new information about the reboot in this article, but it is very interesting to read the cast’s thoughts on it and what they hope to see, since most of them haven’t said much about it up to this point. The article was written by Murtz Jaffer, an entertainment writer and Degrassi fan who has interviewed the cast numerous times previously. Murtz also confirmed in his Instagram story that Stefan Brogren, Pat Mastroianni, Nina Dobrev, and Ricardo Hoyos were asked to participate in the piece but they declined.
You can read the article on The Star’s website, or check out scans from the print version below.
My key takeaways from this article are as follows:
- It’s very interesting that this article talks about the reboot as though it’s still happening as originally scheduled, even though many fans know about the delay. I’m not sure if there is any significance to that or (more likely) Murtz, The Star and the cast don’t know anything and are still under the impression that the reboot is happening since nothing has been announced otherwise.
- It makes me so happy to see Degrassi get coverage like this in a major Canadian news publication. I hope this is a sign that WildBrain will make an effort to still promote Degrassi in Canada, even if it’s available on HBO Max internationally
- This quote from Sara Waisglass is very revealing: “I never got to graduate on the show. So that was painful. They never told us anything. We had our contracts and the way it worked was they had to tell you by a certain date if we were picked up or not. We just never heard from them again.”
- It was also interesting to read how many of the cast are wanting to see the reboot stick to its roots as a children’s show as opposed to becoming more graphic and sensationalized now that it’s on HBO Max. So many of them shared this perspective.
