My interview with Rebecca Haines (Kathleen Mead) is divided into three parts.

Mark: Is the school building which Degrassi Junior High was filmed on 68 Daisy Street in Eotbicoke, Ontario. Was it called Vincent Massey Junior School?

Rebecca: Yes that's the one-I am not too sure of the exact address, though

Mark: Where is the school building Degrassi High was filmed in. Was it called Centennial College and where is it in Toronto? Scarborough? What was the address?

Rebecca: Again, I do not know the address, but it was near the intersection of Pape and Danforth in the east end of Toronto.

Mark: Since Degrassi Junior High premiered on CBC January 18th, 1987, was it filmed only in the summer time and in the fall the previous year. Was the first season filmed Summer 1986?

Rebecca: um this is a hard one. I actually think your right-it seems like so long ago, I was 13 at the time.

Mark: What were the average dates of filming (May-December) how many weeks of filming, and how much time was spent filming each episode?

Rebecca: We had one week off and one week on-one to rehearse and one to film. We did about 13 episodes a season, so that was about 26 weeks, plus a two week holiday in the middle of the summer.

Mark: Would you know the dates when The Kids of Degrassi Street were filmed, and why in only 5 years was there only 26 episodes filmed in that time frame?

Rebecca: um, I don't know about that because I only joined when it was jr. high

Mark: Do you still keep in touch with any other Degrassi actors, are any of the actors married, have you gone to pursue other careers or acting careers?

Rebecca: As far as I know, Chrisa(Diana) and Maureen(michelle) are now married. Everyone has kind of drifted apart, like "real" high school I suppose. A few people are working in the technical side of the show. I do not keep in touch with anyone anymore, so its hard for me to say.

Mark: Why were the outdoor scenes filmed around Queen Street and Degrassi, etc... (The area of The Beaches), but the indoor school scenes were filmed in Etobicoke? Why so far way? Why did they choose that school?

Rebecca: I think because it was the only school they could get which was empty!

Mark: As I have had personal experience with suicide and eating problems in my family, I found that "Food For Thought" and "Showtime Parts 1 and 2" were filmed exceptionally well. Watching the show made me feel more normal. I am thankful that this series was on the air. Life is not perfect, but with much tragedy, and happiness.I think you all did an excellent job at portraying reality.

Rebecca: I am glad that you made a conection with Kathleen. I have had some struggles in my life, too and I know it is good to know that other people understand what you are going through. You must be very brave having gone through so much-and now being able to talk about it, that's an amazing thing! I hear from many people whose lives were touched by the things that my character (and others on the show) went through. As you may have seen in Degrassi Talks, many of us actors had the "real life" problems, too.

Mark: I would like to thank you Rebecca for your time. This is Mark Polger signing off from Montreal's own http://www.degrassi.org

Rebecca: I went to McGill University and did sociology! I loved montreal and miss it.

Interview #2 with Rebecca Haines

Did it take two weeks to produce one episode?

Would it mean that the actors worked 26 weeks from April to October, and did not work in the winter?

What did you do about real school?

Was one week off so the actors could rehearse their lines by themselves, and one week to film the episode?

Was your schooling affected in the process?

How did you make up the school work?

Rebecca: I don't remember exactly how everything went...it was a long time ago. I know we worked from about april to december every year. We had tutors on the set to help us out with our work. Some of the actors enrolled in "alternative" schools which were smaller and more flexible. The rest of us stayed in normal school, and just went when we weren't filming. In my case they were good about scheduling around filming, rehearsals and appearances. My grades didn't suffer-I think I did better because before I was bored in school.

Mark: Also if Degrassi premiered in January 1987 on Sundays 4:30pm, I wanted to know when did it become a prime time show. In the Montreal Gazette, it said in its second season, which premiered January 1988, it graduated to Prime Time, 8:30pm, on Mondays. Why did the first two seasons premiere in January, and why did the third season premiere in November 1988. Why not September like other television shows? I have no idea about the reasons for this!

Mark: How did you and the other actors handle their school schedules? Were there any rehearsals with the whole cast, or did the producers and directors want the whole cast to know their lines on their own and then they took one week to film the episode without any practice run?

Rebecca: Only the people who had lines in the episode were required to rehearse. They did a lot of the "big" scenes with many people on the weekends.

Mark: I read in David Nashtir's Degrassi site that you are doing your Masters of Arts in Sociology. What is your thesis topic if I may ask?

My thesis topic was on adolescent mothers of multiracial children.

Mark: Thank you Rebecca in advance for taking the time in reading this. I hope you are enjoying the Degrassi Mailing List

Mark: I also wanted to know some information about the other school that was shown in Degrassi Junior High Season 3. What was the building (Borden High School) that you filmed in when all the ninth graders went to, the high school where the 9th graders at Degrassi Junior High did their science classes.

Rebecca: i am pretty sure, but I can't remember because I never filmed there as I was a grade eight character at the time.

Mark: As well for the episodes of "Season's Greetings", and "The Great Race", is it true that the swimming pool in the episode where Melanie, Caitlin, and others swam, is it true that it was not part of Vincent Massey Junior School?

Rebecca: I think it was at the Pape Recreation Centre at pape and gerrard, which is close to the real Degrassi street. Also some trivia for you- Lucy's house was the home of Kit hood and Linda Schuyler!

Mark: Also the cafeteria where the Christmas Episodes of Degrassi was filmed in 1988. That cafeteria was not part of Vincent Massey Junior School as well, right?

Rebecca: Oh sorry, now that reminds me-it was ten years ago now-it was a junior high school called Earl Grey which is in the east end of Toronto. I did film that famous cafeteria scene where I got the milk dumped over my head there.

Mark: I remember you signed a Degrassi Talks poster in late 1991, or early 1992, when you were promoting the 6 part series. You and Pat Mastroianni went to Fairview Shopping Mall in Montreal, actually Pointe Claire, not the one in North York. That was great to have Degrassi Talks, as you went across Canada and you spoke of their lives and your own, and of course each of related very well with each topic addressed. That was an excellent 6 part documentary series, I think it helped adolescents a lot.

Rebecca: You were there at Fairview? I was actually living in Montreal at the time, doing my first year at McGill. I am having a hard time remembering-that would have been the 91-92 academic year I guess. I think that we did Degrassi talks in 1991, maybe some of 1990. We went across Canada, mostly by plane. Except for the Ontario stuff which we drove. It was not one straight thing, they were like 1 o r2 week trips. I only did Ontario and Quebec, but other people got to go to Vancouver and up to the NWT. I think in 91-92 we were just wrapping everything up. I went back to Toronto a few times to do some voice-overs, photos and stuff for the buck. Then I guess it was in 92 when the series came out we did the publicity for it. It was sponsored in part by Health Canada, so we went to the House of Commons and had lunch with one of Brian Mulroney's sons.

Mark: Would you know exactly when you went across Canada, how long did it take? Who did the driving, how long did you go for? Did you take breaks, go back to Toronto to see family, or did this for one summer or one year...???? What year did you do this....1991 or 1992, right after School's Out and much later on...

Rebecca: Okay, looking back I am sure now that we did most of the filming for those during the spring and summer of 91. They were actually thinking of doing a second season, and we had some stuff in development during the summer of 1992 but then it fell through. I think it was because CBC has another documentary series in development. And also I think that is when Liberty Street started.They had us make our own little movies talking about our lives. I did this cheesey little thing in my residence at McGill-Solin Hall. And then my friend took the camera and we went on the metro and all around McGill. It was kinda like "A Day in the life". We had to edit them ourselves, so mine was not great. I remember that Pat's was really good. I hope this helps. I have a lot of my old papers and stuff, but I have moved and have stuff in storage. If I find anything that you would like I will send it.