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The Next Generation gap

Thanks to Kevin Smith, XXX plotlines and the masochism of the original cast, Degrassi: The Next Generation is a star-making machine

Against all cringy, CanCon odds, Degrassi: The Next Generation has proven to be an unlikely launch pad to international stardom. And now, yet another cast member is making the move to more glorious pastures.  Landon Liboiron — an Alberta-bred farm boy who plays Degrassi’s resident brooder Declan Coyne — just scored a lead role in Terra Nova, a Steven Spielberg–produced sci-fi show, which begins shooting this month in Queensland, Australia. Rumour has it, the pilot will be the most expensive in Hollywood history, and with Spielberg at the helm, Liboiron is poised to become the next Drew Barrymore (meaning he could become a huge star, not a preteen drug addict with daddy issues). To mark the moment, we offer an assessment of The Next Gen’s other A-list alumni.

Shenae Grimes

Degrassi alter ego: Darcy Edwards, the bad boy–loving Bible thumper who gets off on posting sexy snaps of herself on the internet.

Big break: Grimes beat out thousands of Brenda Walsh wannabes to land the lead on another high school spinoff series, the new 90210.

Tabloid fodder: Off-screen, her temper tantrums, chain smoking, and skeletal frame have resulted in a reputation as the ’tudiest member of the new class.

Likelihood of longevity: If the current 90210 cast proves anything, it’s that PYTs are in long supply. When the show goes, she’ll probably go with it. (Remember Kathleen Robertson, the Hamilton hottie who played Clare on the original Bev Hills? Exactly).

Drake

Degrassi alter ego: Jimmy Brooks, the popular basketball star who is paralyzed in a school shooting.

Big break: Drake’s 2009 “mixtape” So Far Gone — which isn’t actually a mixtape for members of the Walkman generation — got the attention of hip hop’s holy trinity: Kanye, Jay-Z and Lil Wayne.

Tabloid fodder: His ongoing are-they-or-aren’t-they relationship with Rihanna has the makings of a hip-hop/R&B power couple. (Watch your back, Beyoncé!)

Likelihood of longevity: Based on his chart-topping talent as well as his ever-expanding list of famous fans (Eminem is the latest member of Team Drake), our guess is that Drake’s career will outlast Bieber Fever.

Nina Dobrev

Degrassi alter ego: Mia Jones, the teenage mom who leaves school to pursue a modelling career in Paris.

Big break: After honing her craft in a bunch of respectable Canadian big- screen efforts, Dobrev landed the lead in The Vampire Diaries, the CW network’s answer to Twilight-mania.

Tabloid fodder: The gossip blogs go back and forth on which of her hunky co-stars she’s having a secret affair with.

Likelihood of longevity: Having cut her fangs under behind-the-camera superstars like Sarah Polley, Jeremy Podeswa and Atom Egoyan, we’d say she’s got the greatest the spy potential of the bunch.

Miriam McDonald

Degrassi alter ego: Emma Nelson, the only member of the Next Gen to appear on the first Degrassi series. Her mom is the original mohawk-sporting baby-mama Spike.

Big break: According to IMDB, McDonald will join her fellow not-quite-Torontonian Michael Cera (he’s from Brampton, she’s from Oakville) in the Arrested Development movie.

Tabloid fodder: McDonald shed her good-girl image — and her top — in the made-for-TV-monstrosity Poison Ivy 4.

Likelihood of longevity: Hard to say. The Arrested Development movie may be the most eagerly anticipated film since the new Star Wars. Presuming it does get made (and it’s not a hideous disappointment à la Phantom Menace), it has the potential to take McDonald from XXX to A-list.

Thanks for nothing, Kevin Smith

It’s kind of impossible to discuss the titanic success of Degrassi’s current crop without viewing them in contrast to the original lot, whose success, if we’re sticking with the nautical analogy, may be closer to a rowboat with no paddles and a hole in the bottom. And, when you think about it, it’s not really fair. It was, after all, the brave and shockingly vanity-free
efforts of Joey and Wheels and the twins with the Brillo-pad hair that paved the way for the Drakes and Shenaes that followed. Nobody took them to Hollywood (hell, no one ever offered them a stick of cover-up); but they waded into taboo territory — abortions, abusive parents, the Wheels roadside molestation incident — that had never before been explored on the small screen. It was this willingness to go where no teen drama had gone before that earned the adoration of millions, including stoner turned big-time director Kevin Smith. After he got famous, Smith returned the favour by writing, directing and acting in several episodes of The Next Generation. So while Drake and his schoolyard pals hopped on the fast track to fame, the brave men and women who started it all got squat. Meanwhile, not a day goes by where some smartass doesn’t bust their chops for having the guts to go through puberty in front of the camera. Perhaps the The Zit Remedy said it best with their one and only single: everybody wants something. In this case, a little credit would be nice. 

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