Jun 22, 2021 at 8:29 pm

Cassie Steele & Miriam McDonald Open Up About Being Bullied & More While Reflecting On Their 'Degrassi' Roles

Degrassi stars Cassie Steele and Miriam McDonald are looking back on the roles that made them household names in an Instagram Live talk with Entertainment Weekly.

The two actresses reminisced on playing on-screen BFFS Emma and Manny, and also revealed the dark sides of the roles too.

Click inside to see what they shared…

In the chat, Cassie opened up about the most challenging thing was about playing her character, and said that it was that her fans difficulty separating her from her role of Manny.

“People couldn’t separate me from my character,” Cassie shared. “I felt like I was being bullied a lot at parties growing up and even at the mall. People [would call] me a slut. And that was very difficult because I just wanted to make friends.”

Cassie‘s Manny made a memorable impression on the long running show, and in one infamous scene, she’s pictured walking down her school hallway with a visible thong. She was also the focus on one of the show’s most controversial episodes when she got an abortion in season three.

Miriam agreed with Cassie about fans thinking she was the same person as Emma.

“I was terrified to walk through the cafeteria and mall food court at lunch time where there were teenagers,” Miriam shared. “Everyone’s pointing, everyone’s looking and throwing paper at you.”

The two added that the shaming they faced only made their off-screen friendship stronger.

“That’s part of why we formed such a strong connection,” Miriam said. “We were each other’s number one peers.”