Drake says finding out his Degrassi: The Next Generation character would be shot was a “dark” and “intense” moment.
The rapper reflected on the emotional “Time Stands Still” episode—where Jimmy Brooks is left paralyzed after a school shooting—in the new documentary Degrassi: Whatever It Takes.
“I didn’t know about the end of ‘Time Stands Still’ until I was in the read-through. Somebody told me to mentally prepare for today’s script, but they didn’t tell me there was going to be a shooting at the school and that it was me,” Drake shared.
“There was shock and sadness. We were holding hands and crying in the read-through. It was dark. It was intense,” he added.
Drake admitted he was unsure about Jimmy’s arc following the shooting. “My question was ‘What now? I don’t want to spend the rest of my years in a wheelchair. I want to be with everyone else, what do you mean?’ Unfortunately, that’s not how life goes.”
He continued, “I think that was why I think that show’s so good, because life is fuckeded up and they weren’t afraid to let you know that. A lot more went into playing Jimmy after I got shot, for sure. It gave me something to study. It gave me homework.”
Ephraim Ellis, who portrayed Rick Murray—the character who shot Jimmy—explained the lead-up to the tragic moment. “Rick Murray was a really troubled young man. His peers start bullying him. He ends up coming back to school with a gun. I have always interpreted as taking his own life and taking as many people with him as he can.”
Show creator Linda Schuyler said she started considering a school shooting storyline after the Columbine High School tragedy in 1999. On the day of the script read-through, she recalled, “there was a stillness to the cast and crew that day” and admitted she “felt physically sick.”
Degrassi: Whatever It Takes is currently screening at the Toronto International Film Festival through Sept. 14.
