We met up with Lauren and Adamo at Planet Hollywood in New York City, where they were doing a memorabilia donation for their latest film "Degrassi Goes Hollywood," The N's first original two-hour movie.

Lauren and Adamo were both on the hit TV show Degrassi: The Next Generation, and reprised their roles as Paige Michalchuk and Marco Del Rossi for this film. Degrassi dealt with a lot of heavy issues such as self image, peer pressure, pregnancy, drug abuse, and sexual identity. It earned Adamo a 2004 GLAAD Media Awards nomination and his co-star Lauren won a Young Artist Award for Best Ensemble actor.

Starpulse: Where you hesitant at all to go back to Degrassi? You both had been on the show for a long time, left and done some other projects.

Adamo Ruggiero: I know that a lot people might pass judgment- like why are they coming back, but we loved the show. It has given us so much and put me on the map. We are a big family there and when we read the script for the movie we were totally excited and willing to do it. For us to come back and shoot this movie together was a complete blast.

Lauren Collins: You summed it up Adamo, it's been a huge part of my life for so long that this feels like a nice way to complete it. There could be more stuff to come from it, but this felt like the next logical step.

SP: So that answers my next question of would you guys do another movie?

AR: We would totally do whatever comes our way.

LC: IF the same people are involved and the script is great- I think we are game for it.


SP: You guys tackle some big issues on the TV show, do you also get into that in the movie?

LC: The movie tackles issues more in the sense of we are looking at the relationships betweens these characters that we have been following for nine years. So it doesn't get quite as heavy as the show does. It still feels like it's Degrassi at heart.

AR: I feel like the main issue in the movie is all about relationships- where they have grown with each other, but where the fans have grown as well.

SP: So we have to ask, how was working with Perez Hilton?

LC: I was so surprised by how he was on set. You see his persona in the media- he was really quiet and shy. He was so happy to be there, so well prepared, he's been really great about supporting the movie as well. We were thrilled that he wanted to be a part of it.

Adamo Ruggiero and Lauren Collins 'Degrassi Goes Hollywood' Promotion at Planet Hollywood Times Square
© Sylvain Gaboury / PR Photos

SP: He writes a lot of rumors on his blog, are there any about the two of you that you would like to clear up?

LC: Well… we aren't getting married, sadly. I proposed but he said no.

AR: I had to.

LC: I think it's cool that we do the show up in Canada, we're kind of removed from that. We're pretty safe up there.

AR: I guess if there are rumors about us, then we don't know about them yet!

SP: You guys seem really close, are you good friends in real life?

LC: and AR: We are.

SP: Did you guys have any embarrassing moments on set?

LC: I always have embarrassing moments!

AR: We are Canadian and awkward sometimes, we can't help it. We were always kind of the butt of everyone's jokes.

SP: What's next for you guys?

AR: I had an eventful and busy year, I did a play and my first feature. It was a really exciting year and kind of all happened at once. Now I'm just going back to school- getting back into being chilled out for a while. Working with local LGBT organizations that are in Toronto- just working with the gays and putting more information in my brain.

LC: I mean, kind of the same. It was an interesting year for me, finishing up with Degrassi. This year has been about trying and discovering new things, concentrating on the part of my life I forgot about while working. My passion is acting, we'll see!

Words to describe some of the guest stars in your movie:
Pete Wentz: hot
Perez Hilton: tame and unassuming
Kevin Smith: smart and hilarious
Jason Mewes: a big kid
Vivica Fox: a FOX, she is fierce

One thing to say about the movie to get people to go out and see it?

It's hard to describe, the tagline is "Life is a Show," and you're going to want to see every second of it.

For me with Lauren and Adamo check out Degrassi Goes Hollywood Premiering August 14th on The N.


Story by Kristen Schoels

Starpulse contributing writer