Drake is set to look back at the show that helped make him a star well before his rap career took off.
The Toronto rapper will appear in the upcoming documentary Degrassi: Whatever It Takes, which is set to premiere at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival later this year.
Directed by Lisa Rideout, the film’s synopsis on the TIFF website reads: “Creators, superfans, and stars including Aubrey Drake Graham delve deep into all things Degrassi in this engaging history of the Canadian show that changed teen TV.”
Then known as Aubrey Graham, Drake starred in 145 episodes of Degrassi: The Next Generation between 2001 and 2009 as Jimmy Brooks. His character became one of the more memorable when he was shot in the back and paralyzed from the waist down during a school shooting on the show, leaving Jimmy in a wheelchair for the remainder of Drake’s time in the cast.
According to one of the show’s writers, Drake himself wasn’t too into that specific storyline from the beginning. During an oral history for the show’s 20th anniversary back in 2021, writer James Hurst told the AV Club that they allegedly received a letter from a law firm in Toronto saying that Drake wouldn’t return for the sixth season if his character’s life-altering injury wasn’t healed.
“There was a letter from a law firm in Toronto, and it was from Aubrey,” Hurst told AV Club. “It was an odd letter that said, ‘Aubrey Graham will not return to Degrassi season 6 as Jimmy Brooks unless his injury is healed, and he’s out of the wheelchair.’ I said, ‘Get him down here.’ He came in and was like, ‘What letter? I don’t know about that.’ And I said, ‘All right, I understand. But how do you feel about the wheelchair?’ He’s like, ‘All my friends in the rap game say I’m soft because I’m in a wheelchair.’ And I said, ‘Well, tell your friends in the rap game that you got shot. How much harder can you get? You got shot, and you’re in a wheelchair.’”
Hurst then added that Drake eventually changed his mind. “He was so nice and apologetic about everything. He instantly backed down,” he continued. “I was very passionate about it, and I said, ‘Aubrey, there’s some kid somewhere in a wheelchair, who’s completely ignored, who’s never on television, never gets represented. I need you to represent this person. You’re the coolest kid on the show, and you can say there’s nothing wrong with being in a wheelchair.’”
Showtimes for the Degrassi: Whatever It Takes documentary at TIFF should be announced by Aug. 12.
