Source: Smithy TV / YouTube
Show: Lewis At Large: Roundtable 3
Host: Lindsay Lewis
Guests: Paula Brancati (Jane Vaughn), Dalmar Abuzeif (Danny Van Zandt), Raymond Ablack (Sav Bhandari)
Special Judge: Pat Mastroianni (Joey Jeremiah)
Date: February 7, 2014
In a special reunion roundtable, Degrassi: The Next Generation alumni Paula Brancati, Dalmar Abuzeif, and Raymond Ablack sat down with host Lindsay Lewis to trade war stories from their time on the hit teen drama, their ventures into indie filmmaking, and the terrors of the audition room.
With Degrassi legend Pat Mastroianni acting as the off-camera judge for the segment’s games, the cast opened up about everything from Drake’s on-set multitasking to the realities of low-budget production.
Crushing on Drake
When asked about on-set crushes, Brancati shared a charming story about her early days on the show. Joining the cast at 17, her character Jane was styled as a “skater girl” with heavy makeup and dreadlocks—a look that made Brancati feel self-conscious next to her glamorous co-stars.
However, Aubrey Graham (Drake), who played Jimmy Brooks, went out of his way to boost her confidence.
“He would always be like, ‘Damn girl, look at you with that mesh and those camo pants,’” Brancati laughed. She also revealed Graham’s impressive multitasking abilities: “He was writing an album and we were playing ping pong. He paused on writing his album on his phone to compliment me… pay attention, man!”
The “Dirty Dancing” Disaster
The actors traded stories about their worst auditions, with Brancati taking the crown for a cringe-worthy experience auditioning for the Dirty Dancing musical.
Assuming she was called back for her singing ability, she arrived only to find out the character of “Baby” doesn’t sing—she dances. Surrounded by professional dancers warming up, Brancati was asked to improvise.
“They said, ‘Just start with 36 counts of feeling yourself… a sexy improv dance,’” Brancati recalled. “I’m there touching my hair, touching my breast politely… if I take eight counts to do this, it’s a disaster.” She spent the rest of the audition hiding in the back row.
Life After Degrassi
The trio discussed the transition from the structured, well-funded world of Degrassi to the “guerrilla filmmaking” style of indie projects like Moon Point and the web series Teenagers.
Brancati, who produced Moon Point, described the chaos of indie sets, including Ray Ablack’s bike breaking down mid-shoot and filming alone in the dark at 4:30 AM. “When it’s your own thing, you just do it,” she said. “I really want to pay that forward… creating a community of people you can call on.”
The T-Shirt Monologue
The episode concluded with the “T-Shirt Monologue” challenge, where the actors had 30 seconds to improvise a scene based on a prompt to win a free T-shirt.
- Raymond Ablack: A hostage negotiator trying to talk a robber out of demanding diamonds from a bank.
- Paula Brancati: A bitter news anchor forced to report outside in “Hurricane Paula.”
- Dalmar Abuzeif: A polite male escort demanding payment in character from his music video Skid Marks of Society.
The Verdict: Judge Pat Mastroianni awarded the victory—and the T-shirt—to Dalmar for his “classy” performance under pressure.