Top 10 Degrassi: The Next Generation Stars: Where Are They Now?
#10: Shane Kippel
Kippel portrayed Gavin Spinner Mason, the elder adoptive brother of Kendra and manager of The Dot. Kippel starred in the first nine seasons of the show before briefly re-appearing in the season fourteen episode “There’s Your Trouble,” when Spinner hires Eli at The Dot. That was in 2014, and Kippel has remained relatively quiet ever since. In 2016 he appeared in two episodes of “Degrassi: Next Class,” reprising his role as Spinner. He also popped up in Drake’s “I’m Upset” video, along with many of his “Degrassi” co-stars. Like Drake, Kippel’s focus is now on music, as he drums for the alt rock group Dear Love.
#9: Ryan Cooley
Top 10 Unhinged Ryan Gosling Quotes About Playing Ken
Cooley starred in the first six seasons as the resident class clown, J.T. Yorke. Unfortunately, J.T. met his tragic end in season six when he was stabbed by Lakehurst student Drake Lempkey. Like Shane Kippel, Ryan Cooley has been taking it easy as of late. In the early 2010s, he dabbled in voice acting, voicing Louis in the Canadian animated series “Oh No! It’s an Alien Invasion” and Task Landau in the “Beyblade” spinoff “BeyWarriors: BeyRaiderz.” However, Ryan has been inactive as of 2014 and has seemingly retired from acting.
#8: Adamo Ruggiero
Despite auditioning for Craig Manning, Adamo Ruggiero was eventually given the role of Marco Del Rossi. Adamo had a recurring role in season two, but was eventually promoted to series regular in season three. He remained a regular until 2008, when he began hosting the Canadian reality series “The Next Star,” which was essentially “American Idol” for children. His hosting duties continued until 2012, when he was replaced by Carlos Bustamante. In 2015, Adamo starred as Duke in the web series “MsLabelled” and later reprised his role as Marco for one episode of “Degrassi: Next Class.”
#7: Sarah Barrable-Tishauer
Whatever Happened to Sarah Michelle Gellar?
Appearing in over 100 episodes was Liberty Van Zandt, an intelligent and ambitious member of the student council. Sarah starred as Liberty for the first eight seasons of the show and made a brief guest appearance in season nine. Like many of her co-stars, Sarah hasn’t been in much as of late. In 2010 she starred in the television movie “Degrassi Takes Manhattan,” and in 2016 she reprised her role in “Degrassi: Next Class.” Now, most of her time is now spent in…marketing? Yep, Sarah has left the spotlight behind and now works in marketing as an account manager. However, she has retained her creative ambitions and moonlights as a Toronto DJ named Me Time.
#6: Miriam McDonald
Playing series protagonist Emma Nelson was Miriam McDonald. She remained the lead for the first nine seasons, which aired between 2001 and 2010. Following her departure, McDonald appeared in one-off roles in a variety of shows, including “Lost Girl” and “Orphan Black.” She has also dabbled in movies. In 2014 she starred in an Entertainment One movie called “Wolves,” and in 2018 she appeared in the Hallmark Christmas movie “A Veteran’s Christmas.” And yes, she was one of many who starred in the #ThrowbackThursday episode of “Degrassi: Next Class” and Drake’s “I’m Upset” music video.
#5: Jake Epstein
Jake Epstein, AKA musician Craig Manning, has remained a very busy man since leaving “Degrassi” in 2009. For one thing, he has become a very successful stage actor. He’s been Will in “American Idiot,” Spider-Man in “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” and Gerry Goffin in “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.” In July 2019, he performed a one-man show at the Toronto Fringe Festival called “Boy Falls From the Sky: Jake Epstein Live at Supermarket.” He has also enjoyed a prosperous career in television. Between 2016 and 2018, he starred as Chuck Russink in “Designated Survivor,” and from 2017 to 2019 he portrayed Brian Altman in the USA Network legal drama “Suits.”
#4: Lauren Collins
Like Jake Epstein, Lauren Collins has remained very busy in television since starring as Paige Michalchuk. From 2013 to 2014, she had a recurring role on Nick Kroll’s sketch comedy program “Kroll Show.” Following a brief return to the “Degrassi”-verse in “Next Class,” she starred as Sophie in a few episodes of FX’s horror drama “The Strain.” As of 2018, she stars as Meghan Lingerman in the YouTube Premium sci-fi show “Impulse,” which is based on the Steven Gould novel of the same name. She has also dabbled in screenwriting, as she wrote and starred in her own short film called “Zero Recognition.” It played at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2014.
#3: Cassie Steele
Steele began starring as Manny Santos when she was just eleven years old and remained a series regular until 2010. Not long after, she landed the starring role in the CTV drama “The L.A. Complex,” which follows Steele’s Abby Vargas as she moves from Toronto to L.A. to pursue an acting career. Steele has since taken to voice acting and currently voices both Tricia Lange and Tammy Gueterman in “Rick and Morty.” Her vocal talents have also extended to Disney, as she will voice the titular Raya in the 2020 Disney film “Raya and the Last Dragon.” She also continued her career in music and released her second EP, Patterns, in 2014.
#2: Stacey Farber
Following a stint as a recurring role in season 2, Farber became “Degrassi” regular between seasons three through seven, playing the resident goth Eleanor "Ellie" Nash. She began the 2010s by starring in CBC’s “18 to Life,” which follows two young high school graduates who decide to get married on a whim. While the show only lasted two seasons, Farber proceeded to star as Sydney Katz in the medical drama “Saving Hope.” Her role spanned sixteen episodes between 2014 and 2017. Since then, Farber has appeared in bit roles on various television shows. These include episodes of “Chicago Justice,” “Grace and Frankie,” and “Schitt’s Creek,” as well as a brief two-episode run on “Unreal.” As of 2019, she stars as Pam MacLean in the CBC drama “Diggstown.”
#1: Drake
Top 10 Reasons We Love Drake
Today, Drake is a world-famous rapper. You may have heard some of his music. Before becoming a rap god, Drake was just another Canadian on “Degrassi,” playing basketball star Jimmy Brooks. He is now a chart-topping, record-setting, Grammy-winning rap artist who has sold over 170 million records, making him one of the world’s best-selling musicians. In 2019 alone, he received his fourth Grammy award for “God’s Plan,” re-released his 2009 mixtape So Far Gone, released an EP titled The Best in the World Pack AND the Care Package compilation, made a guest appearance on Chris Brown’s “No Guidance,” and announced that he was working on a new album. So, yeah, Aubrey Graham is doing pretty well for himself.
