GIVE TERRON R. MOORE A FLIPCAM AND A DREAM AND FLY HIM TO TORONTO FOR A SET VISIT OF CANADA'S HOTTEST EXPORT AND INTERVIEWS WITH THE CAST. LIKE IT OR NOT, ECLARE LOVERS, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS.
Everything about Aislinn Paul surprises me. her flawlessness i know
The first of many things is that she was even there in the first place. A set visit has meant many weeks of e-planning between Ology and TeenNick's midtown Manhattan offices and Epitome Pictures, located in the chilly city of Toronto in the frozen and foreign county of Canada. We're granted a guaranteed set number of interviews, a roster that nearly made my head spin: Luke Bilyk, Melinda Shankar, Chloe Rose, Annie Clark, Shanice Banton, who all turn out to be stunningly approachable and genuinely engaging, despite the fact that, you know, they're the pin-ups of a 30-year television legacy, a physical part of Canadian TV history, and shamelessly good-looking in person. But Aislinn unfortunately wasn't confirmed as attending the day's festivities, and as one half of the show's most discussed couple, lovingly dubbed "EClare", this a minor loss.
Especially because also there, glowing in 12-point Helvetica—gasp—Munro Chambers. To any tweenage fan, that's OMGZ MUNRO FREAKING CHAMBERS!!!, the shaggy-haired dreamy-eyed wonder that is the show's tragic Romeo (as of late, anyway), a tormented boy called Eli Goldsworthy (the "E" in Eclare) who takes the term "lovestruck" to a new level when he almost kills himself in the previous season's finale just to get a glimpse of his paramour. If that sounds extreme, these are the types of deliciously dramatic things that kids get into on Canada's most popular teen export and Nickelodeon sister channel TeenNick's flagship series.
And Eli's paramour, both as Aislinn and as Clare, an actress and a character, has grown leaps and bounds from a conservative, unsure nerdy girl in an acute hair bun to a bonafide teenage dream, a stylish femme with a haircut full of bounce and sass and a schedule of hookups and drama. She's translated wonderfully from an awkward freshman loner to a junior who walks into The Dot (the show's infamous café) as Aislinn in a striking pair of heels. Flashy gold ones, too; something I'd never expect to see from Grade 9 Aislinn/Clare. When she arrives, beaming, it's the only point in the day that I'm actually taken aback by someone's entrance. of course you are, have you seen her? she's perfect imo
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It's also surprising how non-fussy Epitome Pictures actually is. Sure, it's a vast space with four acres of land, and Stephen Stohn (the show's co-creator and the President at Epitome) revels in telling me how it literally grew out of the ground from nothing when they first bought the place in 1996. Now? It's a twisted, tousled maze of everything- massive sets and storefronts, classrooms and kitchens next to offices and boardrooms, boiler rooms and cafeterias (one for the set, and one where the cast and crew actually eat). Epitome's office, the set of Degrassi and bits and pieces of another series to come with the working Highland Gardens are all fused into these four acres.
They're very proud of their work here: excited that Highland Gardens finished shooting its first season days before my arrival (now it just needs an actual name they haven't figured out yet), honored to receive the copious Gemini Awards, the Peabody, the Emmy, and other accolades that can be found all over their offices, still thrilled to still be making a show that consistently makes a dent in pop culture year after year. When I gush to Stefan Brogren (who is a producer for the show as well as its principal) about my admiration for the show, he takes my comments and genuinely thanks me as if he's heard them for the first time. Almost as if his character Archie "Snake" Simpson hasn't been on the show since its inception 30 seasons ago.
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Here, on a Monday morning, as Stephen and Iain Christiansen (the show's publicist) give me a set tour, things are beyond quiet. Eerie, even: it's not a shooting day that requires extras, so the Degrassi set is considerably less... Degrassi. You just wouldn't think one of the biggest TV shows in North America was being shot in this quaint little fixture, even when I'm standing in the famous hallway where Jimmy was shot, the Media Immersion classroom where EClare shares the greatest kiss of all time, the legendary stairs and foyer that once hosted Landon Liboron, Shenae Grimes, Nina Dobrev, Aubrey Graham. That is, until Iain takes me into his office and casually points upward, where a split-screen shows panels of Chloe Rose shooting a scene from an upcoming episode in her makeshift home. "Not Ready To Make Nice", to be exact.
Her character Katie doesn't look very happy.
When I interview the extremely pleasant Chloe later that day, she cautiously alerts me to not take the episode we just watched her shoot as just another episode of Degrassi: "Wait until you see [it]," she warns. "It's full of surprises." While watching her shoot, it's easy to see that these surprises can't good: her last decision in the scene is by far the most dangerous thing Katie has ever done.
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Iain surprises me with Jessica Tyler to finish my set tour, and after not freaking out, one of the first things I notice is how absolutely radiant she is in person, how she chats it up with myself and the crew as if we are longtime friends. I explain to her that she has to forgive me- I'm so used to seeing her on the show miserable or in tears, so to see her so bubbly as she stands in front of me is a great surprise. She totally agrees with me ("I know, right?!") as we chuckle it off and head into an editing bay- Iain is about to treat us to a scene from the end of Season 11. Jessica is nervous: she's never been in the editing bays before. Well thanks for being nervous about this, Jessica, so no one looks at me crapping my pants.
As the editor goes through the footage from the episode: "Oh look," she says, "there I am crying again!" Everyone laughs while he jumps around a bit more, choosing which scene to show. He finally decides, and presents a scene featuring her character Jenna and the show's resident player Jake, played by Justin Kelly. I'm clearly watching a scene out of its proper context, which is why some of the dialogue—all of it, nearly—shows major revelations in some character relationships. jenna/jake...i could get behind this. they both like chicken...that's more in common than clare and jake have tbh
It's a moment between two characters you'd never expect to see on-screen together, talking about something I never saw coming. I decide that I just have to ask Stephen and Jessica: So wait- does this mean…?
They confirm I've guessed right.
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It's not tough, interviewing the cast of a show you've been watching since 2002, but it is tough to keep a straight face: in my experience, comedic actors tend to be rather serious during interviews, while dramatic actors finally have the chance to let loose while talking to press. But no matter how the pairings go, the rapport between the cast is peachy: Cristine Prosperi and Annie Clark gladly talk about their characters Imogen and Fiona and how they become best friends during the second half of the season. Melinda Shankar and Luke Bilyk joke about their past relationship as Drew and Alli, and when I ask him who he thinks Drew is destined to be with, he jokes "you're gonna ask me that in front of my ex-girlfriend?!" before choosing Bianca. Melinda herself chooses Dave. Aislinn, Justin, and Shanice don't mind doing four do-overs with me while my camera repeatedly malfunctions.
These are some of the many obvious clues—the fact that Jahmil French (Dave) hangs out with us for two hours on set for no reason whatsoever, that Munro gladly invites Chloe into our candid interview for a moment (two actors who have little to no on screen interaction), the moment Luke and Melinda arrive together and poke fun at each other during our entire chat, that nearly everyone would correctly guess Annie Clark's Ology ("Leonardo DiCapriOlogy"), that Aislinn, Justin, and Shanice didn't mind doing four takes with each other at all—that these guys are all friends in real life. If I'd even slightly considered the idea of feuding between cast members, I was immediately shown that it was quite a ridiculous thing to think. i love that this cast is so close. it's adorable
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Here is where I'd like to include something about Munro Chambers because you must know that I have so many things to say about him, right? I could say so many things, because he's that awesome. Yet I'd like our video interview (up this Friday) to speak for itself. It's easily the thing I'm most proud of to date in my life, and the reason my interview with him pushed 20 minutes is he's the most easygoing and quick-witted kid you'll ever meet.
He also smells really good and I want his cologne. If he's reading this, man to man, I never got to tell him that, so… yeah. Now everyone knows.
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Toronto has a confident beauty to it: it doesn't try as hard as New York City does to be flash and glitz, but it's a very bold metropolis as Iain graciously offers a ride back to my hotel before we reconvene at MuchMusic (Canada's MTV-ish epicenter of pop culture) for more cast interviews. Iain has been working with Degrassi and its stars for 9 years now (first at CTV before moving onto Epitome), and conversation turns to how these kids, these bonafide superstars in the eyes of tween girls all over North America, are wholehearted good people who love what they do, and how Canadian fame and American fame are two completely different things: here, it's okay for the cast to hit the mall, go out to dinner together, walk down the streets of Toronto.
Things then turn about the biggest Degrassi alumni of all: Aubrey Graham, who would shed his identity as "Wheelchair Jimmy" (okay, not quite) to become one of the most popular rappers in music under the stage name Drake. It's so crazy, Iain tells me, just how quickly he became an international sensation. It isn't that nobody believed Aubrey, but no one quite grasped just how good he was and the phenomenon he was about to become. One year, Iain recalls, he had to convince Aubrey to attend the Grammy Awards as a favor, and Aubrey happily obliged. The next year on Music's Biggest Night, Aubrey wouldn't attend—but as a four-time nominee including a slot for Best New Artist, Drake would have finally arrived. omfg drake performed at hoopsmania at my university last friday. best fucking thing ever.
But as we turn into Toronto's gorgeous skyline, Iain insists that Aubrey/Drake keeps his relations with his generation of cast members and Epitome staff tight, and regularly keeps in touch. Well, as much as a Grammy-nominated superstar on the heels of what's only his sophomore album can. He's one of many who have left Degrassi to do great things, and yet it's a sign of his appreciation that he continuously checks in. Still, as Iain describes it, "one week he's on set. The next, he's with Rihanna."
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The fans—including tweeters @EClareFan123 and @Lawlessxo, a pair of fans who recognize me from Ology—flock the windows outside of MuchMusic's downtown Toronto studio, where it's considerably warmer inside as the cast, a few MuchMusic and Epitome staffers and I watch the Nowhere To Run episode and a follow-up special. It's funny to see the cast react to themselves on screen: at one point, Alicia Josipovic's Bianca drops a seething line to Melinda Shankar's character Alli:
"Considering you're the skanky b*tch in this scenario, you die first."
"She's one to talk," I say to no one in particular (I say this because Bianca is… a whore). Melinda shoots back with a smile: "I know, right?!"
The cast can barely contain their laughter during the special; even when I'm close to terrified watching the hour-long spookfest, Luke, Melinda, Shanice, Aislinn, Justin, Chloe, Melinda, and Drew are in stiches every time their on-screen personas deliver a one-liner, even moreso when they're on screen pretending to be terrified.
During commercial breaks, the kids (Luke Bilyk is charged up on multiple Red Bulls by this point, I speculate, as he's asked for four) are more than happy to run outside of the studio and sign autographs and take pictures with the freezing teenage girls who have spent hours holding signs and banging on the windows outside of Much. It's something they're happy to do, not something suggested or brought upon by their publicist, not another chance for them to say Yes, I'm a TV star. You get the sense that these actors want to be a part of their fans' lives as much as possible, just as the fans are dying to have one moment with their favorite cast member. Munro takes a picture with @EClareFan123 and it's a small second of his time that immediately becomes her Twitter icon, Facebook profile picture ("oh my god", "cuutee!", and other sentiments flood her comments), and a moment she'll never soon forget.
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Back at The Dot, when Aislinn's flashy heels walk in, she announces that she came to set on the subway. The subway. Of course, I arrived on set via the subway, too, but no one cares about me at all. The fact that Aislinn is the star of Degrassi doesn't mean much when it comes to her personal life, and she and I have a lengthy discussion about the joys of still having that freedom, a freedom that might not be so easy to have in America.
And outside of Much, as we all make our way home, I glance out into the parking lot and it's very hard to believe that I'm watching television stars: it's just a bunch of friends in a lot trying to figure out where to go next, really. Iain and Melinda joke about a trip to Hooters as I unprofessionally confess to Aislinn that she's the very one who almost made me lose my cool and she smiles. Everyone heads off to wherever's next and I head to my hotel and an eventual return to New York, but not without multiple repeated hugs and sincerest thanks from both ends. Everything about this surprises me. The first of many things is that I was even there in the first place.
what the fuck was that on monday? i'm livid with clare. bianca and marisol were the best part of that shitfest
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