MTV’s 1 Girl 5 Gays has a new face this year and it’s none other than Degrassi alum, Lauren Collins.
ANDPOP’s Simon Mohos gets a little risqué with Lauren as they play 1 Girl, 1 Boy, 1 Cup. Don’t close the window just yet! It’s not that kind of video.
We thought Simon could help Lauren prepare for her new show by picking some rather cheeky questions from her first episode. As luck would have it, we get her to spill on her best flirting advice (“Don’t creepy smile and stare at someone. That’s weird!”), what boy band she thinks Simon would be best suited for (she’s a fan of them, too!) and if her parents would watch the show (yeah, that could be awkward).
The cup also provided another doozy of a question: Do you have anal sex with a one night stand?
Well, do you? You better watch to find out!
1 Girl 5 Gays airs Friday at 11e/8p on MTV
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW:
Before a camera begins recording on a film set, there’s an iconic chant that is heard time and time again.
“Lock it up. Rolling sound. Sound speed!”
If you’re an actor, then you know it’s a verbal-cue that tells everyone on-set to shut-up and listen because a scene is being recorded. And it’s also an acting reference that a few actors from Degrassi: The Next Generation have taken to heart in their new venture into the music scene as one of Toronto’s up-and-coming alternative bands, dubbed SoundSpeed.
But with such a unique sound, combination, and debut EP, it can be said that the six-man band has the same message in mind as that of the chant back on the film set. Before you judge, question, or make an opinion, first…just shut-up, and listen.
“I think we represent something different,” drummer Shane Kippel, 23, tells andPOP. “We have such a refreshing sound, yet you can’t really figure it out. It’s just a blend of all of our input and musical interests.”
Eight seasons running. A cult in Canadian pop culture. Winners of the Gemini, Teen Choice and Directors Guild of Canada Awards.
And now Degrassi: The Next Generation finally boasts its first red-carpet TV movie.
But known as a “show of the people”, the season 8 finale Paradise City: Degrassi Goes Hollywood premiere last Wednesday night at Toronto’s Bloor Cinema, allowed tons of lucky special-bracelet-wearing fans bask in Degrassi glory. A free-for-all for snagging autographs and pictures from their favorite cast members, and what’s more- the opportunity to enjoy the movie side-by-side with them too.
And the word got out not only to lucky fans. Among a packed-to-the-brim theatre audience was Camp Rock 2 stars Jordan Francis and Matthew “Mdot” Finley, So You Think You Can Dance Canada winner Nico Archambault, MuchMusic VJ Devon Soltendieck and MTV Live‘s Nicole Holness.
Lauren Collins has been saying for years that she’s not like her snobby, mean, sexually-confused character that she plays on “Degrassi: The Next Generation.”
But just as the fictional Paige Michalchuk has started university, so has Collins, who is taking courses in Toronto while she films the sixth season of “Degrassi,” which debuted last week on CTV.
“I’ve been kind of casual about it but now all of a sudden it’s midterms and I have all this stuff due and I’m getting a little stressed,” says Collins. “But I remember this feeling.”
It’s a feeling Collins hasn’t sensed for three years, the last time she was a student in a real school. While filming “Degrassi,” she had to take high school courses, but all of the actors had tutors come to the set.
Now she’s a genuine student again, making the commute from her home in Thornhill to downtown Toronto. Being a student with a part-time job is difficult enough; imagine trying to juggle university with acting on one of the most successful Canadian television shows.
With a midterm coming up this week, Collins says the producers have been very supportive of her studies. One of the show’s creators, Linda Schuyler, was a teacher before she started the Degrassi franchise in 1987. School, therefore, comes before the show.
“I think I was supposed to be filming (on the day of the midterm) and it was as easy as me saying, ‘guys I need to be there,’ and they said, ‘ok, we’ll make changes,’ so it worked out,” Collins says.
It was not even a year ago when Collins didn’t know if she’d have a schedule to juggle. Several of the characters in “Degrassi” were graduating from high school. If the show were to continue, wouldn’t it be following the characters still in high school, not the ones off to university?
“I was thinking,” Collins says, “once I’m not going to Degrassi anymore, how is this going to make sense? Are we all going to come back like Screech in ‘Saved by the Bell’ and be student teachers?”
Filming the final episode of last season was strange, she recalls, because it seemed like something was coming to an end. She wasn’t sure if she would be back, or even if the show would return. But she didn’t hesitate to sign back on, once she was told that the series would continue to follow her character – as well as Craig (Jake Epstein), Ellie (Stacey Farber) and Marco (Adamo Ruggiero) – post-high school.
And she plans to stick around “as long as it makes sense for Paige to be there and as long as they want me to be around.”
But it’s not like Collins’ acting career will end once the show does. In fact, “Degrassi” is just one credit on her long and growing resume. Collins has appeared in episodes of “Life with Derek,” “Radio Free Roscoe,” and “Angela’s Eyes,” and no role has been bigger than appearing opposite Antonio Banderas in the feature film, “Take the Lead.” Next year, she will be seen in another big screen film, “Charlie Bartlett.”
Though she acted for several years before she joined the cast of “Degrassi,” Collins says that role has done wonders for her career.
“I heard a producer’s kid knew one of us from ‘Degrassi’ and that helped get somebody a role,” she says. “I think it’s put us on the radar and hopefully it will keep doing that because I definitely was to keep working.”
Because the show is so well known, Collins may be facing the aren’t-you-from-Degrassi syndrome for years to come, and this is something she realizes. One of her favourite actresses is Jennifer Aniston, and as Collins points out, it’s hard to see Aniston in a movie and not think of Rachel Greene.
“There is that fear with anyone who has done a sitcom,” Collins says. “But I am still young and hopefully people will give me opportunities. I think it would be important to do something completely different than ‘Degrassi’ once the show finishes, like die my hair black and play Goth or something like that. That would probably help.”
Degrassi airs Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. on CTV.
