Drake Recalls ‘Degrassi’ Read-Through Where Jimmy Brooks Gets Shot
Long before “Hotline Bling” and sold-out tours, Drake was just Aubrey Graham, a Canadian teen actor with a big role on Degrassi: The Next Generation. For eight years, from 2001…
Long before “Hotline Bling” and sold-out tours, Drake was just Aubrey Graham, a Canadian teen actor with a big role on Degrassi: The Next Generation. For eight years, from 2001 to 2009, he played Jimmy Brooks, the charming basketball star whose life changed after one of the most intense storylines in the show’s history.
Now, in the new documentary Degrassi: Whatever It Takes, premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, Drake and creator Linda Schuyler reflect on the powerful episode “Time Stands Still,” which aired in 2004 and became a turning point for both Jimmy and the series itself.
A Storyline Rooted in Real Life Tragedy
Schuyler explains in the documentary that the idea for a school shooting episode began after the tragedy at Columbine High School in 1999, according to a report from PEOPLE.
When Degrassi: The Next Generation launched in 2001, it carried the franchise’s trademark mix of teen drama and social issues. But season four raised the stakes. The two-part episode “Time Stands Still” shocked viewers when Jimmy was shot by troubled student Rick Murray, played by Ephraim Ellis.
Drake’s Shock at the Script
The outlet continued to mention how Drake recalls the moment he found out what would happen. “I didn’t know about the end of ‘Time Stands Still’ until I was in the read-through,” he says in the film. “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.”
He remembers how heavy the moment felt. “There was shock and sadness. We were holding hands and crying in the read-through. It was dark. It was intense.”
Playing the Shooter and the Aftermath
Ellis, who played Rick, explains, “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.”
Schuyler says the atmosphere on set was unforgettable: “a stillness to the cast and crew that day,” and she admits she “felt physically sick.”
Actor Jake Epstein, whose character Craig discovers Jimmy after the shooting, adds, “There was a different energy than any other episode I’d been in. It felt like the show lost its innocence. It was a scary storyline.”
While this offers only a glimpse of the documentary from PEOPLE, fans are eager to see more.
Life After the Shooting
The storyline meant Jimmy’s character was permanently changed. “These things have consequences, and there’s nothing more visual than the consequence that we saw, as our star athlete spending the rest of his time at Degrassi in a wheelchair,” Schuyler explains.
Drake admits the news was difficult to take. “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.”
To prepare, he spent time with a teen who used a wheelchair, studying the daily struggles and learning to portray the experience with respect.
Looking back, Drake says, “I think that was why I think that show’s so good, because life is f---ed 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.”
From Toronto High School to Global Stages
Produced by WildBrain and Peacock Alley Entertainment, Degrassi: Whatever It Takes is screening at TIFF through September 14 as part of the festival’s 50th edition. After the festival run, the film is expected to land on streaming platforms.
For fans, it is both a nostalgic return and a reminder that before Drake became one of the biggest names in music, he first made an unforgettable mark in the halls of Degrassi.
