By Michele Yeo
Few Canadian television shows have achieved the cultural significance that the Degrassi franchise has. Whether it’s teen pregnancy, racism, drunk driving, transgender youth, eating disorders, or school shootings, there are few issues the show hasn’t tackled over its several iterations. Now, a new documentary, Degrassi: Whatever It Takes, which premiered recently at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, unpacks its impact, its influence, and its legacy within Canada and beyond our borders.
“Degrassi was the first of its kind and changed the North American television landscape,” explains the doc’s director Lisa Rideout. “It made space for shows like 90210, The OC, and even Euphoria.”
Degrassi: Whatever It Takes features interviews with major players from across the various editions of the Degrassi universe including cast members like Amanda Stepto (Spike), Stacie Mistysyn (Caitlin), Stefan Brogren (Snake), Miriam Mcdonald (Emma), Shenae Grimes (Darcy), Melinda Shankar (Alli), and Aubrey Graham aka Drake (Jimmy) and show co-creator Linda Schuyler tracing its multigenerational journey from The Kids of Degrassi Street to Degrassi Junior High, Degrassi High, and later, Degrassi: The Next Generation.
And while the show undoubtedly inspired a host of other teen dramas for years to come, what set it apart from those shows was its commitment to credibility.
“It was important to me that it had the appeal of everyday kids,” Schuyler tells the doc. “We purposely did not want slick, commercial kids…we wanted kids who had vulnerability, depth in their eyes.”
They were also actual kids unlike the casts of many other teen dramas.
“What made Degrassi unique was its same-age casting. In most teen shows it’s a 20+ year old playing a 14- year-old. In Degrassi’s case it was a 14-year-old playing a 14-year-old,” says Rideout. “I think that added a level of authenticity that audiences felt.” And those kids looked like kids you actually went to school with or lived down the street from. “It feels like everyday teens going to school in Toronto versus the glamorous teen lives in 90210 or the OC,” says Rideout.
In fact, actors from the early iterations of Degrassi recall often having to wear their own clothes on the show in the absence of a wardrobe budget or on-set stylist.
But what really made Degrassi stand out was its commitment to telling real stories about real issues. For director Rideout, it’s what she remembers most as a fan of the original Degrassi. “It’s hard to remember but back during the classic era of Degrassi there wasn’t the internet so the information coming from Degrassi about sex and other controversial subject matter was often the only form of education viewers got.”
Co-creator Schulyer says that was very much a requisite of the show, especially with regard to talking about sex. “One of our big mandates was to talk about sex education,” she says. Coincidentally Rideout was coming off a project about another Canadian pioneer when she was approached about the Degrassi film – a documentary about trailblazing sex educator Sue Johanson who herself appeared on Degrassi as sex educator Dr. Sally. “I love making films about incredible women who push boundaries and don’t play by the rules,” says Rideout. “That was Sue and it was co-creator of Degrassi, Linda Schuyler.”
Storylines from some of the cast’s own lives made it onto the show. In the doc, Stacie Mistysyn recalls producers asking if they could parlay her parents’ real life divorce into a story for her character, Caitlin. Miriam McDonald, who, along with her sister, has battled eating disorders, saw her character Emma also struggle on Degrassi: The Next Generation. Schuyler also mined her own personal life for stories as well, using her sister’s pregnancy at 15-years-old as the inspiration for Amanda Stepto’s character Spike and her groundbreaking teen pregnancy storyline. When school shootings began making regular headlines South of the border, Degrassi: The Next Generation tackled the issue as well, having Drake’s character Jimmy shot in the halls of Degrassi.
“We were holding hands and crying in the read through, it was intense,” Drake recalls in the doc. “That’s why I think that show is so good because they weren’t afraid.”
Rideout agrees what made Degrassi special was its willingness to “go there.” “These episodes form the foundation of our documentary,” she says. “I think tackling taboo subject matter opens up the conversation and makes viewers feel less alone.”
The franchise won numerous awards over the years including Geminis, Teen Choice Awards, two International Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award but ultimately, it was young people seeing themselves and their issues represented on screen that made the show so special to its viewers around the world.
“It changed and saved people’s lives by tackling subject matter that no one else had,” says Rideout. “It’s legacy is an incredibly important one and I’m honoured I got to play a part in encapsulating it.”
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