Drake may have surprised himself with his memories of ‘Degrassi,’ say doc makers

Aubrey Graham, also known as rapper Drake, appears in a promotional still for the documentary "Degrassi: Whatever It Takes," in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - WildBrain (Mandatory Credit)

TORONTO -- Getting Drake to participate in a new Degrassi documentary was not easy.

But the filmmakers behind “Degrassi: Whatever It Takes,” which premieres Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival, say they were prepared for the patience and persistence it took for one of the franchise’s most elusive voices to go on the record.

“You know, he’s a busy guy,” reasoned executive producer Carrie Mudd in a recent video call.

“We approached him at the beginning, knowing that we’d love his perspective. Give or take a year, he was then ready to sit down with us.”

There were no guarantees it would happen.

Over the years, the rap superstar has been mocked, teased and outright belittled in some circles for his role on “Degrassi: The Next Generation” as Jimmy Brooks.

His character was memorably the victim of a school shooting in one of the most pivotal episodes, at first seemingly killed by the gunman. He returned to school as a survivor who had to use a wheelchair because of the injuries he sustained.

The actor, born Aubrey Graham, left “Degrassi” in 2008 to focus on his burgeoning rap career.

Since then, he has rarely spoken about his role in the TV series, and the filmmakers were so uncertain he’d agree to appear in the documentary that they assembled a rough cut without his voice.

Drake finally agreed to meet the documentary crew at his Texas ranch in June, but Mudd said his representatives warned the filmmakers he had limited time.

Once the interview got rolling, he sat for several hours.

“He, I think, surprised himself with how connected he was to the material,” Mudd said.

“He was much less guarded than we thought he was going to be, which was really exciting. (He was) so candid about those years of his life, that he so rarely talks about.”

Drake is one of many voices from Degrassi’s four-decade history who appear in the documentary, which came together on an idea suggested several years ago by Mudd’s then-13-year-old daughter.

She was in the midst of binge-watching the franchise from its earliest episodes and wondered what happened to many of the cast members. Mudd brought the pitch to Canadian entertainment company WildBrain, which owns the rights.

In late 2023, WildBrain announced that production was underway on a “three-hour series” under the supervision of filmmaker Lisa Rideout, whose past work included a documentary on Canadian sex educator Sue Johanson, who once made a cameo on “Degrassi: The Next Generation.”

The idea was for Rideout to explore the lore of Degrassi with co-creator Linda Schuyler, prominent cast members, and a few devoted fans.

WildBrain ultimately decided to pare down the project to a more briskly paced feature film that came in at just under two hours.

“It was a huge challenge,” Rideout said of the creation process.

“Who should be involved? What story should we be telling? Pretty quickly, we pinned down the episodes we were going to focus on ... (ones) we chose because they were boundary-pushing.”

Rideout’s interviews don’t shy away from discussing both the successes and failures of the franchise.

Some of the series’ early actors talk about their perceived lack of fair compensation for work on a show that they say made a small group of people very wealthy. Others discuss how their sudden fame caused personal strife they didn’t have the tools to handle at their age.

“I was speaking to adults who were teen actors, and the experience they went through as teenagers was so different than anyone that I have ever spoken to on camera,” Rideout said.

“Often I could see tears in people’s eyes quite quickly, almost like they’d gone back to the place that they were as teenagers. It was vulnerable and emotional.”

By David Friend

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2025.