More Stars Expected To Emerge From ‘Degrassi’

It seems like Degrassi was the breeding ground for stars! Many of the show’s cast members have obtained roles on some of television’s most popular shows, or became number one on the Billboard charts – and more are expected to become households names in the future!

Remember the character Jimmy Brooks, real name Aubrey Drake Graham? Aubrey was a Canadian teen star known for his role as the paraplegic Degrassi High School student a couple years ago, now he is the rapper we know as Drake!

And Drake isn’t the only cast member of Degrassi: The Next Generation to transition from ‘Teen Nick’ to big-time Hollywood. The educational program turned high school soap opera also produced Shenae Grimes, who currently stars as Annie Wilson in 90210! For four seasons, Shenae played Darcy Edwards, an Christian girl turned wild child.

But wait, cause here comes the big one…by now we all know Nina Dobrev as Elena, the girl who get to choose between two of the hottest vampires we’ve ever seen on The Vampire Diaries. Well, before she was hanging with Damon and Stefan, Nina was the teen mom and model Mia Jones on Degrassi!

So, who else can we expect to see become a Hollywood star in the future from the show? Kary Bowser, founder of Degrassi Blog, said this:

“In Canada, ‘Degrassi’s’ huge. So, if you’re a teen actor, that’s the thing you want to do,” he says. “As far as those three, I don’t necessarily know that they were the most talented. They just decided they wanted to make the journey from Canada to Hollywood and their timing was right.”

“Shenae and Nina, though, were each the main female character on the show right before they made it big. That definitely helped a lot in terms of visibility and recognition for other roles.”

Kary predicts the next big name to come out of Degrassi will be Landon Liboiron, who plays Declan Coyne on the show. “He was just cast in a Fox Show called Terra Nova. It’s filming this month and will air next year,” he says. “Its executive producer is Aislinn Paul, so I’m willing to bet Landon, who’s a really talented actor as is, gets a ton of exposure from that.”

Aislinn Paul, who plays the character of Clare Edwards, Shenae Grimes’ younger sister on Degrassi, is Kary’s other pick for the show’s next breakout star. “The progression of her character and her growth as an actor has been outstanding,” he says. “She’s been written to be a lot more mature, and I think if she goes for it, she could follow in her ‘big sister’s’ footsteps.”

The complex story lines of the multi-character cast and rigorous shooting schedule definitely serve as solid training for working in Hollywood. Ironically enough, there was a 2009 made-for-TV movie called, Degrassi Goes Hollywood, where several of the show’s characters moved down to California and tried to make it in show business!

Which cast member of Degrassi would you like to see make it big in Hollywood?

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