Ryan Cooley is slight and diminutive for his 18 years, but when he opens his mouth to speak, he has all the sophistication of an experienced and worldly adult. Just graduated from Orangeville District Secondary School, he is, like most people his age, trying to decide what career to pursue. The difference for Ryan is he already has a successful career, one he has been pursuing for the past seven years.

Ryan is an actor whose face is seen in over 100 countries around the world almost every week of the year. He plays the role of J.T., a grade 12 student at Degrassi High School, in the hit series Degrassi: The Next Generation. He has been with the show since he was 13, and this past summer just completed taping season six which began broadcasting in September.

Ryan moved to Orangeville when he was 10. He spent a year in the T.O.Y.S. choir (Theatre Orangeville Youth Singers) and had his first audition when he was 11 for Jacob-Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang. He landed the lead role of Jacob and has never looked back. “I was so afraid, but it was great. I said
to my Dad that I wanted to do more.”

“My Dad got me a meeting with Norbert Abrams, a talent agent in Toronto. He agreed to take me for a trial period. I did dozens of commercials and The Road to Avonlea Christmas Movie.”

“My biggest break was getting the lead role in the YTV series I Was A Sixth-Grade Alien. I was 11 years old and I worked for eight months of the year for two years straight. I was up every morning at 5:30 for two hours of make up and 45 minutes of hairdressing. I had my face painted purple every day and they died my hair blue.

“My Dad stayed with me the whole time, on the set everyday, and we lived in a hotel in downtown Toronto. I had two hours of school each day and about eight hours of taping. We did 22 episodes per year.

“The premise of the show was that I was an alien trying to fit in to Grade 6 life. The show dealt with all the issues that would interest kids of that age. It was a great experience.

“When I Was A Sixth-Grade Alien ended, I started auditioning again and went to one for Degrassi. I didn’t know what it was. I had never seen an episode. I did a five minute audition and got called back for a screen test that took about three days. I didn’t get the part I auditioned for. In fact, they created a new character around what they saw me do on the screen test. It was pretty close to who I actually am. In a way, I’m kind of playing myself.

“My character has evolved over the years. When I started I was supposed to be comic relief. I was going to be the fart jokes guy, the funny little kid just coming into Grade 7. Over the years, the writers moved me from the funny guy to more involved things. Like last year, I got a girl named Liberty pregnant and that was dealt with over a couple of episodes.

“Degrassi has been a great experience. We have about 30 cast members and it’s definitely an ensemble cast. There are no stars. Everyone gets the same amount of attention. That’s important to us.

“The executive producer, Linda Schulyer, is a former teacher, so she gives education a lot of importance. We have a classroom on site with desks, textbooks, blackboards. My teachers at O.D.S.S. were all great. I would get my work and assignments from them or from other students, and I would work on them on set.

“Because my character is graduating, this will probably be my last year on Degrassi. I don’t know what I’m going to do next. I’ve been accepted to the theatre program at U of T, but I’m not sure if I’m going to defer acceptance. I’d really like to do feature films, and I continue to audition for parts and take acting lessons. Because I’ve been playing a character so close to myself for so long, I want to stretch myself. I’m trying to improve my craft.”

When I ask Ryan if he feels he’s missed anything growing up in the entertainment business, he reflects for a moment.

“You’re not living the life of a normal kid. You miss the birthday parties and
the fun times at recess. It’s a little awkward when you come back after you’ve been gone for four months. But on the positive side you’re really living and you’re really doing something. The cast
and crew become like a second family.”

On the topic of fans, Ryan becomes a little embarrassed. “I get tons of fan mail. I don’t get that! Why would anyone want to write to me? I get letters from China! It’s such an honour. I get people coming up to me and talking to me as though I’m J.T. They don’t distinguish between me and the character. It’s really strange.

“Some of my most memorable moments were the mall tours we did in the states – Chicago, Los Angeles, Orlando, Tucson. We had 4,000 kids turn out in L.A.! The crowd saw that we were leaving, and they chased us through J.C. Penney. We had to run to a service elevator. The doors closed and I could hear them banging on the door.”

Ryan feels a real sense of purpose about Degrassi. “It’s our job to connect with the audience and show real stories with real kids with real consequences. We have kids on the show who are homosexual, cutting, abused, everything. Hopefully we can connect with kids who are going through the same thing and offer some support. On the Degrassi website we have a section dedicated to guidance. The writers do a ton of research on whatever issue they’re dealing with, so they’re not putting some fake thing on the air.”

When I ask him what he thinks of the quality of television generally, he admits, “I’m not too pleased with what I see on these reality shows. Kids think it’s real and it’s not at all. It’s pretty degrading stuff sometimes. My favourite show is Seinfeld.”

In real life, Ryan has graduated from high school. In his Degrassi life, this will be J.T.’s last year as a student. For a kid who has been working professionally since he was ten, Ryan shows no signs of slowing down.

“What else are you doing today?” I ask. “I’m heading over to my grandmother’s in Erin to cut her grass.”



Michael Reist is head of the English department at Robert Hall in Caledon East.