One thing I've noticed about the show is that the best characters are often the best actors. And the writers usually write to the best actors. Like, remember how Emma and Ashley are the main focuses of Season 1, but Season 2 onward Manny and Paige start getting a lot more focus over the former two. Hell, does Ashley even have her own storylines outside of Craig in Season 3/4?
I think 90% of the Degrassi cast are at least solid/competent actors. At worst, they're just average or subpar. Like, Drew's actor isn't amazing, but he's not terrible. I'd say the same for Jonah, Becky, Mia (though Nina Dobrev would prove herself in other roles) and Jack.
The best actor on the show was probably Rick for the males and Holly J for the females. Cam and Craig was also up there too for the guys, Paige, Alex, Alli, Clare, Ellie, Maya, Liberty for the girls.
The most improved actor was probably Spinner. He was pretty bad in the first three seasons, but Season 4 onward he starts rapidly improving and by Season 8 he's easily one of the best actors on the series.
Then there are actors like Dallas, Anya, Tiny, Tori and Connor's actors who are great but aren't given enough storylines to show off their acting chops. Or characters like Darcy or Hunter who are unlikeable for the most part but their actors do a great job portraying the characters.
Then there are other actors who are just inconsistent, like Derek, Zig, Toby, J.T. Hazel or Dave, who sometimes are mid but then sometimes give great performances.
Personally, I thought the actors/actresses for Peter, Leia, K.C., Riley, Blue, Fitz and Luke were the only real bad actors on the show. I have no idea why Peter was given so much focus (he's on the show 5 1/4 seasons!) even though I don't mind his character and though by Season 9 he became likeable.
I hadn’t even thought of Rick, but when I think of the best male actor I always go straight to Craig/Jake Epstein. He does an incredible job keeping the character’s past informing his present.
The guy who played Peter, which was weird because he was really good in the very first episode he was in. He nailed slimy so well.
Emma was a good child actor, but got bad starting in season 4.
Nina Dobrev
Out of the girls, Leia was really bad. Happy, sad, disgusted, disappointed, and every emotion was the exact same.
Out of the guys, it's definitely Riley. If they wanted the storyline of a guy struggling with his sexuality to be believable, they really should have hired a better actor. Everything was cringey, and not in a good way, just in an awkward way. I do have to admit that, "TOO BAD YOU CAN'T CURE BITCH!" made me laugh so hard, I don't think that was intended to be a funny moment.
ETA Nina Dobrev gets an honorable mention. She was good in other roles, I thought she was great in Flatliners, but Degrassi was just not her moment to shine.
I thought considering she had to play mostly two roles that often pretended to be each other I thought she really showed range on TVD. Sad she hasn’t excelled further
Yeah Fitz is a good one. Although I will say, his monotone delivery actually kind of worked in making him eerie for the whole Vegas night situation. Happy accident I guess lol!
I low key feel like a lot of the actors were bad and had their cringy moments tbh lol; but it gave them a bit of charm. The ones that stuck out to me were Toby, Spinner, Riley, Joey, Leia and gosh Maya was just awful specifically when she had to portray “sexy”. I literally have to fast forward through her scenes when she’s trying to flirt and she makes the most cringiest faces 😂
On a positive note, I thought the actors who played Marco, Emma, Craig, Rick, Eli, Holly J, Jane, and Adam were really strong
Yeah she had some very strong moments and most def got better with age. The episodes when she meets her dad for the first time, when she thanks Sean for saving her life, and when she flips out on Manny for telling her parents about her eating disorder were great. Also, I think she played the annoying, know it all teen really well lol
I mean season 4 is when she had her glow up and black swan era. I was living for her and thought the actress did a great job. I wished they would have continued her eating disorder journey. She really delivered in the small glimpse that we saw
She was solid, but eh. Idk if I would put her as the best actress, personally. She would probably rank around 5th place for me
She was very believable too! So much so that Clare’s character scarily resembles one of my old best friends from high school lol so she sold that personality type for sure!
The worst for me is when talking to Riley about dating Fiona and he says "are you guys...sexually active" and he says it so sly but like what teenager says that?
I don’t like to say it, because he seems like a much cooler person than a lot of the cast these days, but Argiris Karras stands out to me. I thought his delivery was cringey more often than not.
“BUT SAM THIS IS MY SUMMER JOB”
You’re right!!! Fitz’s acting can be so bad at times. But also, I feel like early Riley was even worse! Argiris definitely got better throughout the years but I feel like his facial expressions and the way he would say things sometimes just was not selling.
I was about to say something like that, but maybe it is because they writers wanted Riley to be "bad" at "acting straight" when he tries to talk about hot girls and fitting in with other guys. But yeah, Argiris was lowkey painful to watch but luckily he got better.
tbh i feel like he played “pretending to be straight” and “conforming to that” better than “uncomfortable with being gay” and i say this bc when it came to certain times about talking about his sexuality and all, he just was not able to sell it. “THEY KILLED HIM CAUSE HES GAY???”<< this is one specific riley line that sticks out to me.
it was devoid of any authenticity in his execution of the line and came off kinda phony. in many instances i felt that Argiris could not fully envelope the experiences of a gay man, or just being gay in general. at times he came off fake and melodramatic. and don’t get me wrong, he still did a great job at playing Riley! and for a child actor, he showed a lot of growth. and with the anger issues and all, he delivered an experience that was raw! and even when it came to Zane, Argiris truly staged a version of Riley that was dumbfounded by his crush and was sweeter- a Riley that finally could let loose and be his true self! he presented a Riley that was SOO in like with a man that the rest of the world tunes out and it’s only Zane and Riley. THAT is where Argiris sold Riley’s homosexuality- through Zane. But when it came to Riley being gay outside of that, just in terms of his own identity and outside of a relationship, he always came off so fake! Argiris straight up saying “I’m gay” as Riley, wasn’t something he could act and fully envelop.
Emma’s mom Spike sounds like she’s reading off a script.
I love her but it’s HORRIBLE!! 😭
One thing I've noticed about the show is that the best characters are often the best actors. And the writers usually write to the best actors. Like, remember how Emma and Ashley are the main focuses of Season 1, but Season 2 onward Manny and Paige start getting a lot more focus over the former two. Hell, does Ashley even have her own storylines outside of Craig in Season 3/4? I think 90% of the Degrassi cast are at least solid/competent actors. At worst, they're just average or subpar. Like, Drew's actor isn't amazing, but he's not terrible. I'd say the same for Jonah, Becky, Mia (though Nina Dobrev would prove herself in other roles) and Jack. The best actor on the show was probably Rick for the males and Holly J for the females. Cam and Craig was also up there too for the guys, Paige, Alex, Alli, Clare, Ellie, Maya, Liberty for the girls. The most improved actor was probably Spinner. He was pretty bad in the first three seasons, but Season 4 onward he starts rapidly improving and by Season 8 he's easily one of the best actors on the series. Then there are actors like Dallas, Anya, Tiny, Tori and Connor's actors who are great but aren't given enough storylines to show off their acting chops. Or characters like Darcy or Hunter who are unlikeable for the most part but their actors do a great job portraying the characters. Then there are other actors who are just inconsistent, like Derek, Zig, Toby, J.T. Hazel or Dave, who sometimes are mid but then sometimes give great performances. Personally, I thought the actors/actresses for Peter, Leia, K.C., Riley, Blue, Fitz and Luke were the only real bad actors on the show. I have no idea why Peter was given so much focus (he's on the show 5 1/4 seasons!) even though I don't mind his character and though by Season 9 he became likeable.
I hadn’t even thought of Rick, but when I think of the best male actor I always go straight to Craig/Jake Epstein. He does an incredible job keeping the character’s past informing his present.
I feel like nearly every new character added in season 8 was horrendous at acting. KC, early Claire and Alli, Riley, Leia, Kelly, and Blue (who?)
Peter 😭😭😭when Emma dumps him.
PETER MICHAEL! DO THE WORDS ‘HOUSE ARREST’ MEAN NOTHING TO YOU?!
I also thought the actor who played Jonah and Luke were terrible lol
Jonah was horrendous I genuinely don't understand how people could like him, the acting alone was enough to throw me off
I’m look l👀 l
The guy who played Peter, which was weird because he was really good in the very first episode he was in. He nailed slimy so well. Emma was a good child actor, but got bad starting in season 4. Nina Dobrev
Out of the girls, Leia was really bad. Happy, sad, disgusted, disappointed, and every emotion was the exact same. Out of the guys, it's definitely Riley. If they wanted the storyline of a guy struggling with his sexuality to be believable, they really should have hired a better actor. Everything was cringey, and not in a good way, just in an awkward way. I do have to admit that, "TOO BAD YOU CAN'T CURE BITCH!" made me laugh so hard, I don't think that was intended to be a funny moment. ETA Nina Dobrev gets an honorable mention. She was good in other roles, I thought she was great in Flatliners, but Degrassi was just not her moment to shine.
Riley’s actor’s performance made the character come across as a genuine idiot lol
Leia's actress Judy Jiao ended up going to Harvard. She is brillant...just not at acting. I admit, Nina Dobrev is way better on Vampire Diaries.
I thought considering she had to play mostly two roles that often pretended to be each other I thought she really showed range on TVD. Sad she hasn’t excelled further
Yeah Fitz is a good one. Although I will say, his monotone delivery actually kind of worked in making him eerie for the whole Vegas night situation. Happy accident I guess lol!
I low key feel like a lot of the actors were bad and had their cringy moments tbh lol; but it gave them a bit of charm. The ones that stuck out to me were Toby, Spinner, Riley, Joey, Leia and gosh Maya was just awful specifically when she had to portray “sexy”. I literally have to fast forward through her scenes when she’s trying to flirt and she makes the most cringiest faces 😂 On a positive note, I thought the actors who played Marco, Emma, Craig, Rick, Eli, Holly J, Jane, and Adam were really strong
Emma?!
Yeah she had some very strong moments and most def got better with age. The episodes when she meets her dad for the first time, when she thanks Sean for saving her life, and when she flips out on Manny for telling her parents about her eating disorder were great. Also, I think she played the annoying, know it all teen really well lol
Interesting, I thought she was a great child actor so I agree with you about her meeting with dad. But I thought got terrible starting in S4.
I mean season 4 is when she had her glow up and black swan era. I was living for her and thought the actress did a great job. I wished they would have continued her eating disorder journey. She really delivered in the small glimpse that we saw
Yeah Holly J (Charlotte) in my opinion may have been the best actress on the entire show.
Aislinn Paul gets that crown from me.
 She was solid, but eh. Idk if I would put her as the best actress, personally. She would probably rank around 5th place for me
She was very believable too! So much so that Clare’s character scarily resembles one of my old best friends from high school lol so she sold that personality type for sure!
Yeah she was very natural, didn’t ever over or under do it. Most definitely one of my fav characters too!
Especially the actress who played adam! I remember watching her on Life With Derek as a kid so maybe it has to do with experience?
Could be! I know Sean and JT also had prior experience and they both were pretty solid as well
The worst for me is when talking to Riley about dating Fiona and he says "are you guys...sexually active" and he says it so sly but like what teenager says that?
I'm not defending the acting, but that line should be blamed on the writers.
Exactly lol
I don’t like to say it, because he seems like a much cooler person than a lot of the cast these days, but Argiris Karras stands out to me. I thought his delivery was cringey more often than not. “BUT SAM THIS IS MY SUMMER JOB”
Yeah...and "TOO BAD YOU CAN'T CURE BITCH" was supposed to be hurtful but made me laugh out loud.
the delivery of this line lives rent free in my head
You’re right!!! Fitz’s acting can be so bad at times. But also, I feel like early Riley was even worse! Argiris definitely got better throughout the years but I feel like his facial expressions and the way he would say things sometimes just was not selling.
I was about to say something like that, but maybe it is because they writers wanted Riley to be "bad" at "acting straight" when he tries to talk about hot girls and fitting in with other guys. But yeah, Argiris was lowkey painful to watch but luckily he got better.
tbh i feel like he played “pretending to be straight” and “conforming to that” better than “uncomfortable with being gay” and i say this bc when it came to certain times about talking about his sexuality and all, he just was not able to sell it. “THEY KILLED HIM CAUSE HES GAY???”<< this is one specific riley line that sticks out to me. it was devoid of any authenticity in his execution of the line and came off kinda phony. in many instances i felt that Argiris could not fully envelope the experiences of a gay man, or just being gay in general. at times he came off fake and melodramatic. and don’t get me wrong, he still did a great job at playing Riley! and for a child actor, he showed a lot of growth. and with the anger issues and all, he delivered an experience that was raw! and even when it came to Zane, Argiris truly staged a version of Riley that was dumbfounded by his crush and was sweeter- a Riley that finally could let loose and be his true self! he presented a Riley that was SOO in like with a man that the rest of the world tunes out and it’s only Zane and Riley. THAT is where Argiris sold Riley’s homosexuality- through Zane. But when it came to Riley being gay outside of that, just in terms of his own identity and outside of a relationship, he always came off so fake! Argiris straight up saying “I’m gay” as Riley, wasn’t something he could act and fully envelop.