When Linda Schuyler met Drake

Q34:22“The Mother Of All Degrassi” Linda Schuyler on her memoir

In her memoir The Mother of All Degrassi, award-winning television producer and Degrassi co-creator Linda Schuyler recounts her journey from becoming a schoolteacher in Toronto to the executive behind one of Canada's most successful cultural exports.

During her conversation with Q guest host Talia Schlanger, Schuyler talks about Degrassi's most famous alumnus: Aubrey Drake Graham, who is better known to the world as the rapper Drake.

She still remembers the day Drake, who she affectionately calls "my little Aubrey," walked into the Degrassi audition room.

"Who would have known that that gangly 14-year-old who walked into our audition room in 2001 would be such an international, brilliant superstar?" Schuyler says.

While casting for Degrassi: The Next Generation, Schuyler says the team had the most trouble finding the right person to play the role of Jimmy Brooks, a wealthy student and basketball player who is later paralyzed from the waist down during a school shooting.

"We couldn't find somebody who had the right charisma, warmth and vulnerability that we were looking for," Schuyler says.

After putting out another casting call, one agent recommended their son's friend for the role, even though he had no acting credits to his name at that time.

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"And so Aubrey Graham came in," Schuyler says, "and he was this lanky, rather awkward 14 year old. He sat down and he read the audition piece, and the room was very quiet afterwards. He looked around — it was his first audition — and he said, 'Oh, I'm sorry, did I do something wrong? Can I do it again?' And we said, 'No, no, it's fine. That's good, thank you very much.' 

"So he jumps up, the light stand snaggles and starts to wobble, and he comes to shake our hand. Our PA grabs the light stand, and he puts his hands together and he backs out of the room. He says, 'Thank you very much. Thank you for having me,' closes the door, and there were four of us behind the table. We all looked at each other and said, 'We have just found our Jimmy Brooks.'"

Schuyler says Drake had every quality they had been searching for to cast Jimmy Brooks.

"There was a charisma and a warmth to that face and that beautiful smile…. We had eight wonderful years working with him."

Now, years after his Degrassi days, Schuyler is still "immensely proud" seeing him reach new heights in his career as an artist, from dominating the music industry to executive producing hit shows like HBO's Euphoria.

"I think it's fantastic that he's associated with [Euphoria]. He's a triple threat. I'm looking forward to the day that he's going to play Barack Obama in the inevitable biopic."

The full interview with Linda Schuyler is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with Linda Schuyler produced by Jennifer Warren and Matt Murphy.