Degrassi is back! Which means, so is our Inside Degrassi Series! This week, we caught up with Shannon Kook-Clun, who plays Zane. Learn about his interest in sports, photography and how he incorporates his character into every day life.

1. A lot of teens are faced with the trouble of not being sure whether to be openly gay. Why do you think your character is so open about it?
We’re all at different places in our lives, and different people have different revelations at different times. Different perspectives. Fear of acceptance is probably one of the biggest obstacles, for anyone. We do a lot of things wanting to be loved. We empower the people around us with how much their actions can affect us, how much what they say or do can weigh inside.

Zane once said “You’re gonna be lonely Riley, I hope your privacy is worth it”.

I think Zane realized that completely putting himself aside to appease the narrow minds of others, who expect him to be something he is not, was a waste of his days. Why live doing things that just make you unhappy? To make other people happy? Really? People need to meet in the middle somewhere.

2. You’re interested in both photography and music. Do you plan to pursue either of those?
I take photos all the time. I really need to get a gallery up. I feel like I’ve neglected music for a while though, it has taken a bottom drawer to my acting, dancing and photography… and my social life. I have a few new goals in mind now though. It’s just a debate of ordering my priorities. I see myself Directing one day too.

3. Zane was the starting kicker for the Panthers this year. Do you play football or any other sports yourself?
My time is pretty jammed these days. I don’t make time for sports. Rugby , basketball, soccer, and cricket were pretty common at lunch at school for me. The closest to football would have to be rugby. I played left wing. My school was definitely among the best back home. People loved to hate us. We were very competitive, had lots of spirit and got top marks at exam time. Tennis was my favourite sport through school though. I haven’t touched a racquet in eons.

Now I fill my spare time with gym or classes in things where I feel like I’m still growing. I miss sport though. It’s just fun. And I miss the camaraderie of the boys on a team, that ‘never leave a soldier behind’ heroic fighting with my Brotherhood thing. Boys will be boys I guess.

I used to be all about Martial Arts. I stopped, and lately it feels like it’s …missing. I will return to Martial Arts soon. And I don’t mean MMA, even though George St. Pierre is one of my few role models and I’ll be watching the Lesnar vs Velasquez fight tomorrow.

4. Have any of the episodes you have been a part of changed how you feel about a certain subject?
Last weekend I was riding slowly in thought on a sidewalk at 3am. A guy pulled up beside me, told me to go back to China through his car window and sped off. Him saying that bothered me, it bothered me that he thought he could say that, but I was pretty calm and just kept on, riding my bike. I didn’t know the guy, but I also really didn’t care about him or what he thought of me. “Meh. Whateva. How good is this weather?!”

I saw him down the road though. In mid conversation with a girl, and not seeing me, he asked some ladies walking in front of me, “Hey, do you guys believe there’s racism in Canada ?”
I said, “Racism? Dude, you just told me to go back to China up the road,” revealing myself.
“That wasn’t me” he said.
“Sure it was…” he started getting back in his car and didn’t say goodbye to the girl.
“…Why would you say something like that, that’s a shame coming from a guy like you.”
As he closed his door he said “I dunno what you’re talking about,” and drove off in his white sports car.

Zane has made me more calm about these type of things, I handle them better. If I get MAD, I think, “How would Zane handle this?” It works out pretty well when I take a breath.

5. Which character on the show can you relate to most? Why?
Adam. He feels so in-between everything and it’s harder for him to fit in. We’re both outsiders.