Before superstardom as a rapper, Drake was Wheelchair Jimmy on Degrassi. According to one writer, he wasn’t particularly thrilled about it either. “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,’” James Hurst says. However, the “Hotline Bling” crooner has started opening up about his time on the hit TV teen drama.
Recently, the Toronto International Film Festival have been screening a new documentary Degrassi: Whatever It Takes. There, Drake and creator Linda Schuyler open up about “Time Stands Still,” the episode centered on school shooting. Moreover, this marks the beginning of Wheelchair Jimmy. Apparently, Drizzy didn’t know what his fate would be until it came time to read the script with the cast. Naturally, when the tone gets so heavy, emotions start to swell.
Drake Opens Up About Degrassi School Shooting Episode
“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. There was shock and sadness. We were holding hands and crying in the read-through. It was dark. It was intense,” he says.
Then, Drake wanted to know where they would take his arc after such a life-altering moment for the character. Ultimately, he found power in the sobering honesty about his character and the show as a whole. “My question was ‘What now?’” he recalls. “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.”
“I think that was why I think that show’s so good, because life is f****d up and they weren’t afraid to let you know that,” Drake adds. “A lot more went into playing Jimmy after I got shot, for sure. It gave me something to study. It gave me homework.”
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