Multichannel News: Women On Air – Lauren Collins (2005)

Source: Multichannel News – Women On Air Supplement
Author: Multichannel News Staff
Published: January 31, 2005
Section: 42A
Document Type: Trade Magazine Supplement Feature
Source Links:
View original magazine scan (Degrassi Vault Gallery)
Digital Archive (NextTV / Multichannel News)

If your teenage kids spend their Friday nights in front of the tube, you may be familiar with the 18-year-old Collins, a native of the Toronto suburb of Thornhill. For those who aren’t, she’s one of the lead players in The N’s Degrassi: The Next Generation, the ensemble-cast series that tracks the trials and tribulations of the teen years through the prism of fictional students at Degrassi Community School.

Angst aside, the show has tackled such issues as school violence, eating disorders, safe sex, alcohol abuse and death. Collins’ character, the popular and oft-times manipulative Paige Michalchuk, has been at the center of controversial episodes involving date rape and a subsequent trial. The fourth season wraps this summer, with a fifth slated to bow in the fall.

SCENES ELSEWHERE: Before Degrassi, Collins was no stranger to cable. She played Brooke on Disney Channel’s series In a Heartbeat, and spent two seasons on then-Fox Family Channel’s I Was a Sixth Grade Alien. She also appeared as Susan Lucci’s daughter in the telepic Blood on Her Hands: in Rocky Marciano, starring Jon Favreau; and with Debbie Reynolds in Virtual Mom.

Archival Note: This feature appeared in a special “Women On Air” supplement for the trade publication Multichannel News on January 31, 2005. It highlights Lauren Collins during the peak era of Degrassi’s popularity on The N, specifically noting the cultural impact of Paige Michalchuk’s heavy storylines during Season 4.