 Welcome everybody, I am so excited about today's web show. Welcome to our basement filled with nostalgia and dreams. So today we're doing a little move from movies today to television. This actor, obviously you know from the opening, Pat Mastriani, Joey Jeremiah, best known for Joey Jeremiah of Degrassi series. And who doesn't love zit remedy? I was all the way for Stephanie K. I wanted to be Spike's friend. I love Degrassi. I grew up with Degrassi. So I was very very excited about this interview. Without further ado, Pat Mastriani. Joey Jeremiah. Pat Mastriani joins me on the web show. How are you today? Good. Thank you. How are you doing? I'm so good. So good. I will start with a non-Degrassi question. Going right back to the beginning. You were born in Canada, but you do have Italian heritage. I'm curious how much of that Italian culture was ingrained in your childhood growing up? Oh, I'm going to so disappoint you here. I am the most manja cake Italian. And for those who don't know, manja cake is how Italians refer to Canadians who are non-Italian because bread is so sweet when they first came to Canada. They say all these people, all they do is eat cake all day long. And so manja cake is a reference to a non-Italian. And really, I grew up in parts of Toronto that were very diverse multi-culturally. I didn't hang out with a lot of Italians. I lost my ability to speak Italian as soon as I started elementary school. I still understand it a little bit, but really the only ties I have to my culture is the food that my mom still makes for me. And also the traditions of family and friendship and loyalty and all those things that were instilled in me. I think that has a lot to do with my family's upbringing, my parents, the way they are, and has done me well for my whole life. What is your favourite dish that your mom cooks? She makes veal with ravioli on the side and then a house garden salad that she grows in her backyard. And I just, I can't replicate it. I can't find it anywhere else. And that is almost my weekly tradition when I go over there to visit. So I'm looking forward to that tonight actually. Well, they do say you can never beat your mother's food. So I don't think you should try and replicate it. Just enjoy it. Exactly. Was acting always in your blood? I know you obviously acting from a very young age. Did you always want to act? Did you know about it really being a career when you were super young? No, not even close. It was really just a way for me to break out of my shell. I was very insecure, very shy. You know, people would almost call me a nerd. I didn't have any friends growing up in elementary school. So starting off in the school choir was a way I would try to integrate myself. And I sang in school choir for almost four years. And then I found a flyer in the newspaper that said acting classes. No experience necessary. Come on down. I did this workshop session for nine weeks. Where it basically just taught me to have some self-confidence. It really didn't teach me how to act. But it gave me some self-confidence that looking back, if I didn't have that, I probably wouldn't have had the courage to eventually audition for Degrassi Junior High, which was, again, a flyer that I picked up at my own high school in grade nine. And at the time, I really didn't think of it as a career or as an opportunity. I just thought, oh, this might be a fun gig for the summer when school isn't happening. And who would have thought that all these years later, we would have done five seasons and then the school's out movie and a documentary series. And then for the show to come back again in 2001, who could have expected that? When you responded to that flyer, what was the audition process if it wasn't, I guess, the usual route to getting apart? Normally in the industry, you would have a casting agent reach out to talent agents and those talent agents would look at their roster and say, okay, I think these kids would be a good fit for this show. Let's submit them and get them an audition. The way they did it for this series, because it was a non-union show, they couldn't hire union actors. So they went out to the public, to local schools all around Toronto. And around 500 kids came in and auditioned for the show. I don't know how many hundreds or thousands of submissions, but from all those submissions, there was about 500 people initially that auditioned. And again, I had just been at the right place at the right time, picked up the flyer. It said kids wanted for new CBC TV show, and that's our local Canadian broadcasting service channel here in Canada. And I thought, well, you know what? I don't really watch the CBC. It's kind of an old person's channel, but the idea of being on TV sounded fun. So literally, I went down, filled out the paperwork, submitted it, got a phone call a day or two later. They gave me an audition time. I went in and I had a paragraph that was written exclusively for the role of Joey Jeremiah. That was already a character that they had in their mind, had created, along with a few others like Stephanie Kay and Arthur Kowalowski and Yikyu. Those were the four characters that they had in mind. And the other characters like Spike and Snake evolved after the fact. Once they had chosen what actors they wanted to have on the show, they sort of created characters based on some of the actual actors' personal traits. But I auditioned for Joey Jeremiah and somehow they, I wasn't very good, but they somehow saw something in me that reflected the character's spirit, its soul. And they said, you know, we can make him a better actor, but he's got just enough of what we're looking for, that sort of twinkle in his eye, that little conniving character trait that we're looking for, but with a good heart. So they, after weeks and weeks of workshops with all the cast, they started handing out characters and saying, okay, you know, this is who you'll be playing in the first season of Degrassi Junior High. Don't feel bad if you don't have a character because we will be developing more as we go. Was it overwhelming when you first arrived on set? What was the atmosphere like? What was the experience like? Oh man, you know, when you're a kid, you're fearless. You've got a Superman complex. Nothing really phases you until maybe you reflect on it later on in life. I think if I had looked back then, the way I feel today, I would have been anxiety-ridden, stressed, so nervous. But I think at the time, I was just excited. I was excited at the idea of playing someone larger than life, someone, you know, a little bit more extravagant than myself, because again, I was still that shy kid inside, but now I was playing this very bravado and very, you know, boisterous character that got away with anything and everything. And that was kind of fun. I think one of the first scenes I remember filming was the first episode was called Kiss Me Steph, where Stephanie Kay runs for school council. And in the hallway, Joey slides on his knees towards Stephanie Kay and proclaims his love for her. And I remember that being such a fun little scene to do because, well, first of all, I had an infatuation with Michael J. Fox. I idolized him. I tried to emulate him. And in my little autobiography book that I wrote this year, I talk about how every scene that I approached in filming in the first season, I'd often say to myself, how would Michael J. Fox play this scene? Like, what would he do? What would his mannerisms be? Because I had no idea how to act. I just wanted to try to pretend like I knew what I was doing. As many of the other kids on the show were doing at the same time. But I looked to Michael J. Fox as sort of the person I wanted to emulate the most. And you'll see the resemblances in my character and his, you know, with the skateboard and the way I kicked the skateboard was very much like how he did it in Back to the Future. I tried to always have something in my hand to sort of, it was a safety net to have an object, something, anything in my hand. And I learned that from watching Michael J. Fox. So, you know, was it intimidating? Yes, but I don't think it got to me as it would today. And now that I'm older, I'm a little more nervous when I'm on set. It's a little bit harder to do, to memorize stuff. But back then I think I was just fearless. Now you mention it, the Michael J. Fox thing makes total sense. You can see it. I think so, yeah. Have you ever met him? Believe it or not, a couple of years ago I got to meet Michael J. Fox at a comic convention here in Toronto called Fan Expo. And he was appearing with some of his other castmates from Back to the Future. And I was there with some of the cast of The Grassy the Next Generation. And the showrunner for the event was kind enough to bring me backstage just before Michael and a bunch of his fellow castmates were to go on and speak to about 5,000 fans. And I got to meet him backstage really briefly. And I just wanted to say thank you for inspiring me and for being someone to look up to. And I'm sure he's heard it a million times. I had to mention the fact that I was on a show called The Grassy. And he blew my mind when he said, I've heard of this show, The Grassy. I know that show. And literally he just legitimized my entire career by just saying the word The Grassy. So it was a wonderful moment. It was my little micro fan girl moment. And I think I carry that with me. And that is why when I created The Grassy Palooza, I wanted the fans that grew up watching our show and grew up watching our characters to have that same connection with us when they had their micro moment of meeting us for the first time. So a lot of people that came from different parts of the world to The Grassy Palooza, it was a pilgrimage for them. And it was something important for them. And I could relate. I could understand what it meant to connect to something important from your past. And I carry that with me at all my events and all my appearances that I make, that I know that when I do meet a fan, and even if it's just for 30 seconds or a minute or two, they're going to walk away with that memory of meeting me or Caitlyn or Spike or Snake. And we need to try to do our part and to do our best to try to give them an amazing moment. Because it only happens once and you want to leave a good impression, right? That's so nice to hear because so many times it's that cliche of be careful meeting our idols because some people do take it for granted and it is quite crushing if that experience happens. So as a fan, it's incredibly appreciated from outside that you would have that kind of approach. The way I see it is in my industry, I've been a celebrity at a comic convention. I've been a manager of celebrities that go to comic conventions and I've also created and run my own convention. So I kind of, and I've been a fan. So I understand every aspect of that experience. And when I say micro moment, I do mean it, that you do only have a short period of time with each person. And even though you're tired and even though you've been up all day and you've signed maybe 100 or 500 autographs and taken a thousand selfies, but at the end of the day, that person is meeting you for the first time and it's their moment. And that's important to them. And I've seen other celebrities not really do their part and people walking away going, wow, I just, you know, I drove all this way. I paid for parking. I paid to get into this event. I paid to meet this gentleman and get his autograph and his selfie with him. And he didn't even look up at me or shake my hand or anything. And that breaks my heart because I know how important that moment means. So I definitely try to reiterate that to my fellow cast members when we do make appearances. And I do tell my clients when I'm representing celebrities, especially up and coming young celebrities, that, you know, there is a certain responsibility that they have to be gracious to the people that have dedicated their time to watching you and your shows. Well, you mentioned the paloosa. That was your idea, my understanding. You created it. Blood, sweat and tears went into it. Why did you choose to do that and what went into actually making it happen? Oh boy, oh boy. Long story, long. Because it is a long story. I've been doing appearances for almost a decade at conventions, pop culture events and what not screening events. I've even been a motivational speaker at times. And so when I discovered the world of pop culture and comic conventions and all these things, it was amazing because not only did I get to go and earn a little bit of a living by making appearances, but I also got to meet my childhood heroes at these events as well. And it was a lot of fun. I understood it. I understood what nostalgia meant and I understood what looking back fondly at your past and reconnecting with your past needs. We're all at that age now where things are so hectic, life moves so quickly, and especially these days, I think we're looking back fondly at a simpler time. And I think the 80s and 90s for my generation is definitely a time that we all miss and look back fondly. And so when I started meeting fans who watched my series and they would come up and sometimes they would come up with their kids and say, look, when I was your age, I watched that guy and I had a big crush on him and Snake and Wheels and I just loved his show. And it made me realize that I had a connection with a lot of people because we didn't have social media in the 80s and 90s. I had no way of connecting with the fans. I might get the odd fan mail once in a while, but it's not like today where you could literally tweet and have a celebrity like or comment on something you've posted. You can reach out to celebrities on social media, but we didn't have that. So for the first time, I was actually meeting the fans of the show and they were telling me their stories about how the show connected with them and what it meant to them and the things that they were going through at that time and many of them would say, well, what's Wheels up to? What's, I'm sorry, not Wheels. What's Snake up to? What's Spike? What's, you know, what are the other characters up to? And I'm like, I don't know. I haven't seen them in 10, 15 years and some I hadn't seen in 25 years. So Pelusa came out of my experience in the industry, knowing that there was a market out there for people that wanted to reconnect to the old show, that wanted to maybe meet some of the old cast. I wanted to reappoint myself with many of the old cast and some of the crew that worked on the original series. And for me, I didn't want to get overshadowed by the next generation and Drake and all those other things that came out of the next version of Degrassi. I wanted to protect our legacy and what we created, which was the foundation to everything that came afterwards. My co-creator and director Kit Hood who hadn't spoken publicly about Degrassi in almost 25 years, I literally had to like beg him and pull him to come to this event. And ultimately he did and thank God he did because unfortunately we lost him seven months later. Unexpectedly, he passed away. You know, it was his opportunity to shine and to have a moment in the limelight. And I'm very proud that I was able to give him that experience. And for many of my cast, you know, many of them went on to different lives. They became teachers or whatever. And they never revisited their history with the show and many of their friends were like, I didn't even know you were on that show. So it was a nice celebration. It was a nice weekend event. We had people come from all over the world to visit and be part of that event. And I'm very happy that we were able to document it. I just wish I had someone like you, Lisa, that I could have brought on board to take over for me and actually produce it the way it should have been done. But I'm very happy that at least we have something on tape and that something exists of that weekend for the people that were there and also the people that couldn't make it. Well, I would have been there in a heartbeat, had I known. So next time, just give me a call. I'll be there. So the documentary is an obvious guide to being a broom head. Was that part of your initial vision when you were setting up the event or did that kind of stem from starting to film? And then you just kind of snowballed. The documentary was an afterthought. I had put all my energy and effort for two years into creating the Degrassi Gluza event. That was where all my energy and my focus was put in on because it was such a huge undertaking. I was so stressed and so overwhelmed by putting it on by myself. I had no support from the people who own the Degrassi trademark now. They had basically said, don't ever do this again because you didn't have our permission to do it. I'm like, okay, but I'm trying to celebrate the show. Why are you giving me grief over that? So I was under a lot of pressure and a lot of stress and I didn't expect it to be like that. So the documentary was never even on my mind. I just knew that I had a nice gentleman that was helping me with the AV aspect of the event, the audio-video aspect of it. And he said, I can put two cameras on this stage and I can have one camera just floating around the event, shooting some behind-the-scenes stuff. I said, okay, whatever you get is gravy. I wasn't thinking of, well, maybe I could make a nice documentary. After the fact, at the beginning of 2020, I thought, oh, maybe I can go back and re-interview some of the cast one-on-one, get their insight into what the event was like for them. And then COVID hit and I couldn't actually do the follow-up stuff that I wanted to do. I wasn't able to utilize or use any copyright footage from the show, obviously, because I would need permission for that. I was lucky enough to have some behind-the-scenes footage that we as cast filmed with those giant cameras that we had back in the 90s. We had some of that footage that I was able to incorporate. But ultimately, it was the stories. It was the content that the documentary was all about. It was about the cast sharing their experiences of being on the show and what the show meant to them. And it didn't need to be any flashier than that. I mentioned to you in an email that it was a glorified podcast. Well, maybe it was. Maybe it could have been more slick and sharper and a better producer could have done a better job. But for me, it's a nice keepsake and I'm really proud of what it is and what it says about the people that were involved in the show back in the day. And we were all... It was an emotional weekend for everybody. And I'm glad that I was able to capture some moments of that entire weekend. It's been really special to see you and you, Jan and Kate. And I seriously do think we have the best fans ever. Well, I had a terrible time. I watched the documentary and as a fan, you don't care that it isn't flashy because you're so engrossed in the stories and you're so engrossed in these relationships and reliving the first moment you found out so and so was pregnant and fearing zip remedy for the first time. And it just takes you back to when you're a preteen or teenager watching the show. So it was a fascinating documentary. And one of the biggest takeaways was just how much love the cast and crew still had for each other after all these years. And is that quite a rarity when you get a production that people still have that love and support for each other all those years later? Well, I can only speak from my experience and the fantastic friends I've made from the Degrassi series over the years. I think what the Palooza, the reunion event made us all realize is that too much time had passed that we hadn't really stayed in touch. Like maybe we should have on a larger scale. I was meeting spouses and children for the first time of some of my cast member friends and I'm like, I should know who your husband or wife is. I should know the names of your children. Like we shouldn't let this happen again. And then COVID hit and now we're all on lockdown. So social media has allowed us to try to keep in touch since the event, which is really nice. And we have a giant chat room on messenger that we all talk to each other on. Boy, would we really like to get together and see each other now. We haven't even had the opportunity to properly memorialize Kitt Hood, who passed away in January. So we really wanted to do all these things in 2020 and we couldn't. So I've been basically reaching out to people from time to time saying, hey, if things loosen up and we can get together, I really do hope we can have a barbecue over at my house and have everybody come over with their families and see each other again. Because I would like that just because I would be under no pressure the whole time. I was doing the event. I felt like it was a wedding. You know what I mean? How you feel at your wedding when it just goes by so quickly, so many things are happening and you almost miss the moment of being in that. And that's how it felt for me. So for me to watch Palouse of the Documentary or the Narbo's Guide to Being a Broom Head, it allows me to enjoy everything that took place that weekend without the pressure of it all happening at that time. But yeah, boy, what I really like to see these guys and just sort of catch up with them on a more relaxed environment. In the documentary, you had this really sweet moment where you're talking about Neil Hope who played wheels, who sadly passed in 2007, I believe. Why was he so special to so many people? Well, you know, his character was beloved just because he was that every guy. You know, everyone knew of wheels, knew a guy like wheels or was a guy like wheels. So everyone could relate to the character. When people say, was Neil like his character? Yeah, I think a lot of aspects of the wheels character were taken from Neil's life. He had lost his father to cancer early on. And that was one of the main reasons why the producers asked Neil if he wanted to portray a character who loses his parents to a drunk driver and passes away. Because Neil was basically going through that emotion in real life that same year. And he said, yeah, no, I'm absolutely ready to play that character, to play that kind of character. I obviously have that experience. And any actor will tell you, they tap into the real life experiences when they portray a character. But, you know, I don't know what happened to him after Degrassi. He went his way. We all kind of went our own ways. We did have a mini reunion on Degrassi the next generation where wheels comes back and talks to Snake. But, you know, when I found out about his passing, obviously I was very, very shocked. I was surprised that it took so long to find him, that his family had been looking for him. Obviously the fans are a little bit confused as to what happened. I also am confused as to what happened. I knew a little bit about his final days and what had happened after the fact. But when people wanted to celebrate him at Palooza, it was definitely a moment that I was surprised, overwhelmed me. I think, you know, we were all under a lot of pressure and a lot of emotion was coming to the surface as we all reunited for the first time on stage in 25 years. And I think for me, it was just like, wow, we're missing an important part of this cast. We're missing somebody that really should have been here and would have loved being here. And that's what kind of broke my heart when we started talking about Neil, was that it would have been great to have him here because we'll never have a Zit Remedy reunion because he's just not here with us. It's a tragic story. And I'm sorry that, you know, we lost him so young. Every time I talk about him to fans, I say, at least he's here in spirit and he's here on the show and he'll always be a part of that legacy and he won't be forgotten because of his contribution to the Degrassi legacy. I mean, he was also on the kids of Degrassi. So he had been around for years prior to me coming onto the show in Degrassi Junior High. So it's nice that fans can remember him. We had a nice memorial table set up for him where people signed a book and that was just a really nice place for people to go and have a moment with him. So, yeah, did I want to get emotional? No, but I did. And, you know, he deserves our appreciation and he deserves to be applauded for what he did on the show. It was those storylines in particular you were talking of wheels and his father and as a teenager, preteen, teenager growing up, it was the storylines of Degrassi that were really revolutionary at the time especially me watching it because you see all these teenagers like me going through all these real-life situations. When you were filming those scenes and going through those storylines, were you aware of how impactful they were going to be on the viewers? Yeah, I mean, we all knew how important these stories were and that they needed to be told and we knew to a certain degree that we were one of the first shows that were tackling these topics. We knew that there was a responsibility on the writer's part to tell the story in a way that the people watching didn't feel that they were being preached to that the adults weren't just going to show up and solve the problems that no matter what a choice was made that there's a consequence for that choice for a character. And so we maybe didn't appreciate the skills that the writers had in writing all these stories. I do look back now and go, man, how did they do that week after week after week? And for every episode and all those characters, there was a lot of great storytelling there. I think that's why the show remembered so fondly, not because it was a 90210 slick, polished, good-looking people with nice clothes and the cool cars and the posing. We were that grungy, real downtown, almost ghetto kind of reality where people didn't have money. They didn't have the nice clothes. In one of the early episodes, I go to a guy's house to buy his jean jacket because I didn't have money to go buy a new one. I wanted a tattered old-looking jean jacket and I find out that his dad is abusing him. So I think a lot of people, you may not relate exactly word for word what that episode was about, but you could go, wow, this is a crazy situation. I can only imagine what I would do in that situation or I have a friend that did have something similar like that happened to them. And also what fans told us at Palooza was that it gave them permission to talk about a topic. A lot of people, there's a young lady that spoke at Palooza and you may remember this. She said she grew up in a small town where people didn't talk about homosexuality a lot and they didn't certainly talk about it in school or to their parents. But because it happened on Degrassi, they could talk about it amongst themselves because it happened on the show. And it was okay to talk about it because it was on the show. So I really like the fact that people used Degrassi as an opportunity to have an engaging dialogue. Even if they weren't aware that they were being taught something, they found it entertaining enough that they'd come back week after week and, and man, I can't even tell you how many times people break down in front of me when they talk about a specific storyline or a specific character and what that meant to them. And it's amazing. Like I don't know too many shows where people are that attached to it. And I, you know, I'm always aware of, of, you know, we didn't cure cancer with this show, but telling stories is important. And what we do on social media, what you're doing with your documentaries and with your podcasts is you're trying to educate people. You're trying to, you know, enlighten people. And that's a good thing. And we should be doing that constantly. You have a culture now where people are divided and there's so much separation right now. You're either on this side or on this side. You know, if people had a little bit more education of what's going on on either side, maybe we wouldn't be so divided. I'm not trying to get preachy or anything like that, but I am aware that knowledge and education is important. And I think for our generation, growing up and learning about all these topics and these storylines enlightened us and made us more aware of things than, you know, I know before Degrassi, I was a very naive kid. I didn't know much about a lot of things, but the show helped me learn as I went along that journey of being a character on that show. I learned a lot about life and people and issues and learning how to respect people and be kind to people and that people go through their own journeys and they're very different from you and to respect their journey as well. Yeah, it's an amazing little show that came out of small ideas from a few people and it blew up into this worldwide phenomenon and I'm very, very proud to be a part of it. And I think that's why today I still celebrate it. I celebrate the show. I'm not embarrassed about it. I've sort of embraced my attachment to it and my legacy to it. I'm on social media almost daily reminding people, hey, you know, OG Degrassi, I'm very proud of it. I sing it from the rooftops, but as long as people still want to talk about it and engage us, I will continue to do that with them and remind people that Degrassi started from very, very humble beginnings. Was there a time perhaps maybe early 20s or when the show had finished, a series had finished that you didn't want to have that association with Joey Jeremiah or have you always really embraced it? Oh, no, you're bang on. I refuse to talk about Degrassi from, you know, my entire 20s, a good chunk of my 30s. You know, I went through a phase where I was over it and I didn't want to be associated. Especially in my 20s, I was a young actor. I wanted to break out of that whole thing. And, you know, let's not talk about Joey Jeremiah. I'm an actor. And then in my 30s, I came back and I did five seasons of the next generation. And then when I finished that, I went through another decade of, I don't want to talk about Degrassi again. About five years ago, six, seven years ago, was when I started to do these appearances and I really started to appreciate what that show meant to people. That's where I really kind of went, okay, look, I really shouldn't be knocking something that was so important to a lot of people. And the fact that my character is fondly remembered, I should be embracing that. And so I allowed myself to appreciate my involvement and to be grateful for being a part of that legacy. Every time I meet a fan, it's almost like I get this flush of emotion. It's just like that gratitude. It's that instant gratification that we never got when we produced the show back in the day. So I do get a kick out of meeting the fans. I do get a kick walking out on stage and having hundreds and hundreds of people applauding and being happy that you're there. Stacey Mystician who plays Caitlyn and I, we do screenings all across the country. And every city we go to, it's a packed venue and we're just so grateful that people remember their show fondly and that they're willing to come out and meet us. Some on a cold winter night, we went to Winnipeg at the beginning of 2020 before COVID got crazy here in Canada. And there was minus 30 degrees and people had stood in line for an hour to get into this screening room to watch schools out, the series finale. And I just couldn't believe it. And we were late. Like we literally were running on stage with our suitcases going, hey guys, we made it, we made it. So it's a big love fest when we do these appearances. I really, really appreciate it. It makes us feel like we did something good with our lives that one day people will watch this show and go, wow, those kids in the 80s and 90s were crazy. But hopefully it's a show that generations down the road can watch and still relate to. I do know for a fact that kids that grew up watching the next generation are now finding the classic series and they're going back and watching the classic series. And they can still relate to it, even though it's a little weird and nobody's got cell phones and there's no internet and all that kind of cookie stuff. But a kid is a kid. And it's nice that they can still understand the angst and appreciate it for what it is. Yeah, it's a really interesting phenomenon which I don't think has happened too often in television. You may have answered this already with your Michael J. Fox and Back to the Future, but obviously Degrassi, people have connected to their childhood. What is a film or a TV series that you grew up with that is your Degrassi now? Well, like I said, as a young actor, I looked up to Michael J. Fox so much so that eventually I bought a DeLorean. So people and their fascination for their childhood heroes, sometimes meeting them, getting an autographed picture is enough. Sometimes you got to buy a DeLorean. So I had the opportunity to buy one and I had it for seven years. And boy, oh boy, did I feel cool. You know, every time I drove that thing, because it literally made me feel like Michael J. Fox and Back to the Future. And I think any guy my age who enjoyed that movie and that trilogy will tell you that's just the ultimate feeling. Reliving your childhood in that way is the ultimate stepping back in time, so to speak, right? And I think that's partly why I bought the vehicle was just because I wanted to feel what Michael J. Fox felt in being in that movie. Just like somebody who loves Star Wars or wants to be, hold the lightsaber. It's all about touching something that meant something to you when you were younger, right? And I think that's why celebrity is such a weird thing. William Shatner, for example. I met William Shatner eight years ago. Grew up watching him on Star Trek. I touched him, shook his hand, I said, thank you very much for putting on a great character and all that stuff. He's, oh, thank you very much. And it was like, wow, I just connected to something larger than who I am. And it acknowledged my existence a little bit more because somebody who's so big and so famous recognized me for a second, it elevated me. And I think that's kind of the weirdness of celebrity is that people are also looking to be elevated and raised up and acknowledged that they exist and that they matter. And when somebody who has a little bit of notoriety acknowledges them in that way, it lifts them up and it gives them like a euphoria sort of experience. And I think that's why people keep going to conventions and keep going to pop culture events and follow celebrities and elevate these people. Now, some people deserve it and some people don't deserve to be elevated. It's what you do with that celebrity that's important. It's what you do with that luxury of being recognized and being in people's minds and thoughts and hopefully you do something good with that. Now, I am not a celebrity in the sense of superstardom. And I know that I have a small niche family of fans that love Degrassi and I think that's awesome. But I'm going to make all of them feel the best way I can because I know how important the show meant to them. And that makes me feel awesome that I can have a small influence on people. Aside from Degrassi, of all your acting roles, what are you most proud of? Oh boy. You know what? I look at every experience I've had, the opportunities that I've had to be an actor on different shows. I look at them all as a really amazing opportunity to sort of get out of my skin and play a different character. Like what I've been doing on Instagram is I've been posting old parts that I've played over the years in chronological order from my IMDB to show people that I've actually done quite a bit of work outside of Degrassi because people are so fixated that they don't know that I've actually done other shows and so I've done voice work on animation shows. I've worked on movie the weeks and I've done tons of television and I've hosted my variety show and little by little, I'm putting out all these different things. And I'm now reliving it going, wow, that was a really fun experience because I had, you know, squibs on me and a gun shot me and I got to go like this and pretend like I was dead and I got to be in that voice work in that animated series. That was a lot of fun and I got to work with Brooks Shields over here or Taylor Leone over here. And, you know, it's amazing because every experience is unique, every experience is different. It's almost like talking to a musician and saying what's your favorite song, right? Each song is a different experience for that artist and has a different meaning to them and it's almost like saying, pick your favorite child, right? As much as I love Degrassi and I love my experience on Degrassi and that's what I'll be remembered for, I've enjoyed this whole ride and even though I'm not acting anymore, I definitely enjoyed that 30-year journey and it was definitely something that I never thought would have happened when I filled out that audition form 30 years ago for Degrassi. If there's anyone out there watching that wants to be an actor, maybe a child actor, what advice would you say to them? Oh, boy. Unfortunately, there is no rule book. I wish there was an A. If you do A, B, and C, you'll be a successful actor. Unfortunately, you have to do it because you are passionate about it, something that you love. It's something that grows in you as you do more and more of it. I never had the opportunity to do theater. I kind of fell into acting on a television series right off the hop and a lot of people, especially young people, start off in school theater, high school theater. After school, they maybe will do something in off-Broadway stuff. That's where they kind of get their chops and learn about their craft. And you have to treat it as if you were trying to educate yourself to be a doctor or a lawyer or you just don't become an actor overnight. And I think a lot of people, especially in today's instant gratification world, they think, well, if I decided to become an actor, I should be a successful actor in six months and be a superstar because they've seen other people do it on YouTube. They don't realize that there are some people out there that struggle for a lifetime. And then they finally break into something and they get an opportunity, which people will, wow, where did that guy come from? That was an overnight success. No, because you didn't see the 20 years that that person struggled to get to that part, to get to that point. So people who think it's a quick thing to become a successful actor that can make actually a living is rare. I think 1% actually can do that. But if it's in you, if it's something that you need to do because you love it, then absolutely follow that passion. And whatever path you go on is your own personal path. Don't compare yourself to somebody else because they have their path and their journey. The hardest thing ever I had to learn when I was a young actor or my teens and 20s was like, why is that person getting all these great roles? Why am I not getting that really cool part? I could have done that. Never compare yourself. You have your journey because there's somebody looking at you saying the exact same thing. Why is Pat getting that part? I could have done that. So be grateful for the opportunities that you have. Be grateful for the things that you get to do. Don't compare yourself to anybody else and be in it for the long haul because it is a career like anything else. You have to treat it as such and you have to look at it with an incredible amount of effort, energy. You have to educate yourself, constantly strive to become better. And life, you have to live. If you want to be a really good actor, you have to be able to reach deep into your soul and find those moments in your life that bring out emotion that a lot of people may not have had in their real life. So you can't just fake that kind of stuff. I've seen some actors reach into their experiences and come out with stuff that I'm just like, wow, you're messed up. You know what I mean? And I mean that in a good way. I mean that they've been able to tap into some experience that they've had in their life and bring it to the surface and share that with the audience and the character with the lines that we're given to them. I remember Jake Epstein who plays my son on Degrassi the next generation. In his audition, he has a moment where he cries and we're in the scene and we're being very emotional. And it's an audition. Remember, we're not actually shooting the actual scene. It's just an audition. And he's getting emotional and he's building up to this climax of the scene. And he turns around and he looks at me and he literally just has one tear come down his cheek. And in my head, I'm going, god damn it, he is so good. And they obviously gave him the role of my stepson on the show. But we always joke about that moment when we were working together on set. I was like, damn you, Jake, you're such a good actor that you could actually bring a tear down your eye when you wanted to bring that tear down your eye because you reached into something that would make you emotionally and upset and cry. And to this day, he's still blowing me away. I mean, he's now got a reoccurring character on the Umbrella Academy, which is an amazing series. Watch it if you don't know what it is. But yeah, he's just one of those people that you watch and you go, wow, he's just on another level. And I'm just trying to keep up. You know what I mean? He was 14 when we casted him as my stepson. I was 30 years old and I was like the William Shatner of Degrassi walking on set going, I'm the bad guy here. I'm the cool guy. And he just blew me away. And he literally kept me on my toes whenever I was working with him on set. So that's when you meet somebody that's just on another level. That's rare when you meet somebody like that. But yeah, I mean, to answer your question, acting, it's a wonderful idea. It may not be right for everybody but you have to approach it as if you were doing a business, a career. In your life today, what inspires you? What do you wake up excited about? That changes year from year to year, right? Sometimes you wake up and you're just grateful to be alive. You know, 2020 was a very difficult year for everyone because we were just trying to get through it. And I think that was one of the hardest things was saying, okay, what do I do to justify getting up? What do I do not to sink into a depression or to just sit on the couch all day? How I did that was I wrote a book and I created the documentary and I engaged people online and created the digraseetour.com website that people can keep in touch with us that way as well. That helped me get through. And at the end of last year, I thank the fans for helping me get through 2020 because I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have the fans and the engagement and the back and forth with them online because normally how I would keep myself busy is I would do appearances. I would go do screening events. I would represent other actors who were making appearances at comic conventions and whatnot or I would audition for stuff. None of that was happening last year. Absolutely nothing. So it was a tough one and I relied on people. I relied on friends, I relied on family and I relied on the fans. And that's why I call them my narbows. I call them my broom heads because they are special. They're part of this family, this digraseet family that we have. And if someone who's actually sat through this entire one hour conversation, then you're a narbow and you're a broom head too because obviously the show meant enough to you that you were willing to spend an hour with us today and listen to me blab on. But I'm grateful for those fans. I'm grateful for the ones that come to these events and cheer us on and thank us. And it's something I look forward to moving forward when things do open up again and venues open up and we're able to gather and we're able to get together. I'm looking forward to doing screenings of the documentary in a large venue where we can talk about it more in depth because every time we do a screening event, we go on stage and we talk for an hour afterwards with the fans and we do a Q&A and it's a lot of fun. And I miss that. I really look forward to engaging the fans once things open up again and boy, oh boy, I hope it happens soon. We are all ready and as soon as it opens up and you start your Degracitor again, I will be there front row. I'm very excited. I will put the website URL on the screen. There'll be a link below. It's been an absolute pleasure to talk to you so I really appreciate your time. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity and this platform. I wish you all the best. What a great interview. Fantastic. What a lovely man. I was a little schoolgirl crushy when I was talking, have to admit. I hope you enjoyed it too. Buddy, Meg had a great time. They haven't stopped talking about it. Make sure you comment below, subscribe. And we've got another great web show coming for you soon. So stay tuned and have a great week. Where do you guys want to be in 20 years? I want to be successful. I don't know where I want to be. I want to be successful, have a great relationship. And just live comfortably. Sounds pretty boring. I don't know where I want to be when I'm 40. I want to be 20 again.