Drake joins several generations of “Degrassi” stars to revisit 'big granddaddy' of teen dramas in “Whatever It Takes” trailer

Degrassi fans are getting the ultimate walk down memory lane thanks to a new documentary diving deep into the show.

On Wednesday, WildBrain and Peacock Alley Entertainment released the trailer for the Lisa Rideout-directed documentary, Degrassi: Whatever It Takes, which will make its world premiere on Sept. 13 at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Multiple generations of the Canadian teen drama stars — including Drake, Dayo Ade, Stefan Brogren, Amanda and Maureen Deiseach, Shenae Grimes-Beech, Jake Epstein, Shane Kippel, Miriam McDonald, Stacie Mistysyn, Melinda Shankar, Amanda Stepto, Jordan Todosey — appear in the trailer to reflect on the raw, real, and sometimes troubling truth of the decades-long Degrassi franchise.

"I didn't have a great time in high school. I just didn't really fit in," Drake recalls in the released trailer, reflecting on how he became part of the longstanding teen drama. "Then one day, my mom called me and told me, 'You got the role.' And I just grabbed my bag and left. And man, what a wild journey that started."

The iconic franchise began with Kids of Degrassi Street, which aired from 1979 to 1986. It was followed by Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High, which featured Brogan and Stepto in its cast of stars. The two went on to help bring in the new millennium of stars and fans as part of Degrassi: The Next Generation, which included talent such as Drake, Cassie Steele, McDonald, Grimes-Beech, and Nina Dobrev, from 2001 to 2015. The franchise's most recent series, Netflix's Degrassi: Next Class, aired from 2016 to 2017.

Throughout its iterations, Degrassi made a name for itself for being a fearless teen drama that tackled taboo topics like teen pregnancy, drug use, domestic abuse, and mental health.

Looking back on the show's legacy, creator Linda Schuyler remarks, "Have we always gotten it right? Probably not. Have we told our stories with the best of intentions? Yes, we have."

The documentary tackles how the change in fame affected the show's young stars, especially as the show led the charge that changed teen-led TV forever.

As Canadian-born actor Joshua Jackson is shown in the trailer saying in an interview, "When people talk about my old show, Dawson's Creek, or they talk about Beverly Hills, 90210, they don't know that the big grandaddy is Degrassi."

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Degrassi: Whatever It Takes is executive produced by Josh Scherba, Stephanie Betts and Angela Boudreault for WildBrain, and by Carrie Mudd for Peacock Alley. The documentary is produced by Mudd and Erin Sharp and is written by Rideout and Celine Wong.

In a press statement, Rideout said, "Degrassi changed the landscape of television with real, unvarnished storytelling and did it unapologetically from a teenage perspective. I was inspired by how fearless the series was in tackling issues that others wouldn't touch."

She continued, "This documentary celebrates the iconic Canadian franchise while revealing the impact it had on the people who made it and the audiences who loved it."

Mudd added, "Degrassi is more than a TV show — it's a time capsule of growing up, full of heart, honesty and every 'first' experience you can think of. Nothing then, or now, has captured the teenage experience in a more raw, authentic or unfiltered way."

"Degrassi is one of Canada's biggest cultural exports, which helped shape four decades of TV and touched multiple generations of kids around the world," Mudd said. "Telling its story felt like honoring a piece of the Canadian identity."

Degrassi: Whatever It Takes will premiere on Saturday, Sept. 13 at the Toronto International Film Festival as a TIFF 50 Official Selection. Watch the trailer above.

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