The N – Check It: Meet Stacey Farber (2004)

The-Seth: (answers phone) Hi, it’s The-Seth.

Stacey Farber: Hi, it’s Stacey Farber.

The-Seth: Oh, hi Stacey. Thanks for calling. So I wanted to ask you a few questions for The-N.com. You know the site, right?

Stacey Farber: I do. I check out the message boards. And I had a great time at the [Degrassi VIP] screenings. I got to go to Atlanta and Texas with Miriam.

The-Seth: Yeah, The-Mary’s been mentioning that in her blog. I hear a lot of people showed…

Stacey Farber: Oh, a ton of people. And they were all so into it and so excited to see us. It was so surreal. It was crazy. I just felt so unworthy of all the attention.

The-Seth: So tell me about “Take on Me,” the episode where Ellie and Sean and everyone are in Saturday morning detention together.

Stacey Farber: It was fun. It was definitely one of the most fun episodes that I filmed all season, because there are only five of us in the episode the whole time, so we were just going crazy and having fun filming it throughout the week. I got to work with Jake Goldsbie, who plays Toby and who I’ve never worked with before, and also Andrea and Aubrey.

The-Seth: It sounds like a little of the bonding that happens in that episode kind of happened in real life.

Stacey Farber: Yeah, it was nice. It was sort of a chance to bond with people that I don’t normally get the chance to hang out with. On set at least. I hang out with them when we’re not filming.

The-Seth: Anyone who’s seen the sneak peeks of the new episodes can tell that something’s happening between Sean and Ellie. What do you think of that?

Stacey Farber: I think her relationship with Sean is a great addition to the show. Not only because they’re both very similar, in the sense that they’re both sort of outcasts and different from the other kids at school, but also, with the whole cutting issue, it’s nice that Ellie has a person that she can relate to and she can talk to. A close friend that she can rely on to help her through it.

The-Seth: So you think Sean’s right for Ellie?

Stacey Farber: I think out of the characters that are available on the show, I think Sean’s definitely the best match for Ellie. Well, there’s Craig and Spinner, but they hang out in different crowds from Ellie. And Jimmy, well he’s [*spoiler deleted* Keep watching!] now, but he’s also a different type of guy. He’s more smooth and urban, more of the, like, Mr. Popular. Sean’s more similar to Ellie.

The-Seth: Okay, I have to ask you about kissing. Are you into doing those scenes, or does it weird you out?

Stacey Farber: It’s part of the job, so I can’t object to anything. I just have to do what the script tells me to, but it’s definitely hard when you have to kiss someone in front of a camera crew and all these people who you work with, and you have to pretend that none of them are there and you have to make it look realistic. That’s always hard. The first couple times you do it are usually the hardest, ’cause you either can’t stop laughing, or you’re embarrassed. But once you get into it, it’s not that bad. It’s definitely not as bad as some people make it out to be.

The-Seth: You’re in your second season on the show now. How has making the show changed for you?

Stacey Farber: I’m sure it’s easy to understand that when I came second season I didn’t know anyone. I actually only knew Jake Epstein, because I went to school with him.

The-Seth: Wait, you went to school with Jake? Because Lauren Collins just told The-Mary that she and Jake…

Stacey Farber: …used to date, yeah.

The-Seth: So did you know Lauren too?

Stacey Farber: I knew of Lauren when Jake was dating her. And we have some mutual friends.

The-Seth: So three people from the same school all ended up on the same show? What’s up with that?

Stacey Farber: Well, Lauren didn’t go to our school. It was just Jake and I, and it is coincidence that the two of us are on a show. It was really funny, because we were actually valedictorians in grade eight together, the two of us. So it was really ironic, because, two years later, we ended up on the same show. It was just crazy. It was just funny.

The-Seth: Huh. Oh, before I forget: can you really play the bass? Ellie works it in Ashley’s new band.

Stacey Farber: No, I can’t! People ask me that all the time. I fake it completely. I try to get into it and pretend that I’m really good, but really I have no clue what I’m doing. They just show me how to hold it, and I do whatever I do from there.

The-Seth: Do you ever get sick of seeing yourself on TV?

Stacey Farber: I don’t get sick of it, but sometimes it’s weird. It’s weird when I turn on the television and my face is there. And it’s weird when I go on the Internet and my picture’s there. And, in Canada, there’s French stations that broadcast shows in French. And one time Degrassi was on the French channel, and they had dubbed French voices over our own. So it was weird when I turned on the TV and saw my face with somebody else’s voice speaking French. it was just really crazy.