Archive

Behind the queer storylines of “Degrassi”

Stefan Brogren has been part of the Degrassi franchise since before most of today’s Degrassi: The Next Generation actors were born.

He spent six years playing Archie “Snake” Simpson on Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High in the 1980s and ’90s, a role to which he returned for Degrassi: The Next Generation (Mr. Simpson is the school’s current principal), in addition to producing, directing, and writing most of the show’s web content. Stefan has directed both episodes and movie specials of Degrassi, and, as of Season 10, he is also part of the production team, serving as the show’s Co-Creative Producer.

In the midst of juggling his roles as a director, producer, and actor on Degrassi, Stefan Brogren found a moment to answer some of my questions about finding the right actor to play Adam, Fiona’s coming out storyline, and what it’s like to be on the set of Degrassi.

AfterEllen.com: Given that Adam is the first scripted transgender teen character on television, he’s clearly unique, and yet he’s far from being a stereotype. How did you and the rest of the creative team conceive of the character originally, and how did he change in between then and when he finally hit our TV screens?

Stefan Brogren: The idea of having a transgender character on Degrassi came into our minds a couple of years ago. It was something that we hadn’t dealt with so we were nervous about doing it right. We didn’t know if we were going to go male-to-female transgender or female-to-male transgender. Every year we want to bring in new and exciting characters, and when we were brainstorming for Season 10, it just felt like the right time.

The question then became “How do we present this?” We want to be fair, honest and do something that hasn’t seen before on television. Once we decided to have a female-to-male transgender character, we had to decide what kind of stories to tell about Adam. We didn’t want to tell stories about him discovering that he is transgender but to have him in the school knowing who he is already. We wanted to show the aftermath of the students finding out and then how the family deals with that.

The question then became “Who are we going to get to play this role?” We would have scrapped the character had we not met Jordan Todosey. It came down to three actors that we thought could possibly play Adam, but it was clear Jordan was hands-down the best choice for the role. Once that happened, we knew we could write around her and tell more in-depth stories. We knew Jordan could handle it.

AE: Degrassi is a show that has always pushed boundaries. What has the network’s role been in all this? Were they at all hesitant to take on the character of Adam or were they completely supportive?

SB: Both TeenNick and MuchMusic were completely on board right away. Both networks just wondered if we would be able find the right actor to pull it off.

AE: This spring’s storyline had Fiona dating Adam just as she began to realize (or at least come to terms with the fact) that she was interested in dating women. This storyline is relevant to the queer community for a number of reasons, and the show has given such integrity to the identities of both Fiona and Adam. What were the intentions with this particular storyline and what were you hoping to portray?

SB: We didn’t want to give Adam an easy road where suddenly he had a girlfriend and everything is perfect. We’ve always thought of Adam as very headstrong and charismatic, and he gets the girl – for at least a minute.

At the same time, Fiona’s trip has been so long coming to terms with her sexuality. If you look back seasons it actually makes sense about where she came from – with the guys she’s dated and how she has sort of always been closed off. For her to come to this realization with Adam was pretty exciting for the writers. They were able to tell two stories at once. Adam is realizing that the girl he cares for, and possibly loves, likes the fact that he has soft skin and has breasts. Then you have Fiona realizing that it is not the male anatomy that she is attracted to, it’s actually the female side. It is a great conundrum and I think one of the smartest stories that we have ever told.

AE: Why did you choose to have a FTM character instead of a MTF character? Was the intention to go in this direction with Fiona’s character part of that decision?

SB: No. It was a choice we made pretty far down the line, probably about two or three weeks before casting. We liked the idea of the story of two brothers – one of which had grown up with a sister. Boys can be judgmental at times, and we wanted to see that this brother, Drew, loved and protected his brother but still had the same issues that brothers have. You know, fighting over video games or even the same girl!

AE: Speaking of the intentionality of Fiona’s character, Annie Clark mentioned last week that she didn’t always know Fiona would be a lesbian, but some readers on AfterEllen believe that there was always something a little bit queer about her. Were her sexuality and her realization of it planned into her other storylines?

SB: It wasn’t really planned, but we could see that we accidentally had put her in that situation. We developed her to be a very sensitive and confused girl who was brought up in an ivory tower. Every relationship we put her in the boys couldn’t meet her needs. That’s how it started out. Then we realized, wow, we have put this girl on a path where she’d never had love with a guy and felt that emotion. It only made sense once we started Season 10 that it was where Fiona was headed. It made sense to us to have Fiona be a lesbian. It also came down, once again, to an actor that can handle it. We knew Annie Clark could handle it.

AE: Many of our readers were also struck by how supportive Fiona’s mother was of her daughter immediately after Fiona came out. Images of supportive parents of queer youth are incredibly important but also pretty few and far between on television, perhaps in part because parental rejection can add more drama to a plot. How did you decide to make Fiona’s mother so supportive?

SB: I think we try to mix it up, having parents on both side of the equation. If you go back to Marco, his parents were confused. Then you have Riley who can barely talk to his family even though his mother caught him in the act. Fiona’s mom seemed to be the perfect character that would just be accepting. We wanted to get past the parents and let Fiona get on with her journey. We want to see a parent that realizes that the child’s happiness is the most important thing. It’s also a question of where we are getting the most story from.

AE: Being trans is presumably not a non-issue for Adam as he considers being in relationships, but at the same time, being trans is not all of who Adam is. I can see the possibility of a double-bind here, in which you might want to treat Adam just like all the other characters – but at the same time, because there are almost no other characters like him, you might want to write stories for Adam that are trans-specific. Do you think we will have the chance to see Adam in a relationship where the relationship drama is not related to his being trans, or do you think being trans is an important thing to explore within Adam’s relationships? (And, of course, these options aren’t mutually exclusive.)

SB: I think we are very careful about making Adam’s story progress too quickly. With him and Fiona it was an advanced step on his part. We want to show Adam doing things that regular teens do in high school – trying to be popular, trying to get good grades, trying to get into clubs and also him being rejected from certain things.

In Season 11 we will address the smaller steps that someone goes through while in transition. For example, what do you put on your driver’s license? Do you put your transgender name or the name you were born with? These are things that Adam has to deal with, let alone can he use the washroom that he wants to?

AE: In this same vein, Adam can’t possibly represent all trans people, while Fiona and Paige and Alex aren’t representative of the experiences of all queer women. Do you ever feel any pressure to tell certain stories with certain characters and how do you deal with that?

SB: I think you have just nailed it on the head. It is just one character at a school, and we can only tell stories that work for Adam. Of course we are going to miss out on certain things that transgender teens go through. It would be impossible to address all of them within one character. Degrassi is a school populated with a thousand students, each with their own set of issues.

AE: On a show like Degrassi, how do you balance the educational aspects of the show with the entertainment?

SB: First off, we are a television show, and we are here to entertain. We just happen to be one of the lucky shows that gets to educate at the same time. Our first job is to tell intriguing and inspiring stories about characters that you care about. We have straight kids who love watching gay storylines and gay kids who love the relationship between characters like Eli and Clare.

AE: Being at the helm of a show like Degrassi must be awesome! What’s your favorite thing about being a part of the Degrassi team?

SB: There are so many things that I love! When I get to work with them as a director, it’s way too much fun! We get to goof around about the characters and joke about how we are going to take them in all sorts of crazy directions. Just having a good time with them on set. When we nail a scene I am so proud of them.

AE: Jordan Todosey hinted to us that next season Adam will likely begin to discover “more of the physical side of being FTM transgender.” Can you tell us any more about what Adam might be up to next season?

SB: Adam will be dealing with the “technical” side of being a transgender teen. Emotionally we hope that Adam is headed in the right direction, but we want to see the awkward stages that Adam goes through because that’s what being a teen is all about.

AE: And how about Fiona – any hints you can drop for us about her?

SB: Fiona will be finding a new love, someone that the viewers haven’t met before who is more emotionally advanced. Fiona is coming off a stint at rehab so it will be interesting to see her coming to new stages in her sexuality and trying to maintain her sobriety. The two sometimes go hand in hand. It will be quite a trip.

Don’t forget to tune in tonight to see what happens with Adam, Fiona, and Holly J. on Degrassi: The Next Generation‘s Season 10 finale.

Lesbian Apparel and Accessories Gay All Day sweatshirt -- AE exclusive

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button