The Degrassi star gives TEEN PEOPLE the scoop on big changes coming for Emma (boy drama!) -- and her own big adventure

By Janice Morris

Apr 07, 2006 01:00PM EDT

Degrassi: The Next Generation is back with a new season on The N. TEEN PEOPLE sat down with the show's star, Miriam McDonald to give a sneak peek into the life of her character, Emma. And a little about Miriam's life too!

TEEN PEOPLE: What's going on with Emma in the new season?
Miriam: Well there's some boy drama, some drama with her best friend, and her mom and her stepdad have some issues to deal with. A lot of exciting stuff. But I think the real clincher is her having to deal with the pressures of being thin.

TEEN PEOPLE: How would you like to see Emma change and deal?
Miriam: A lot of the time she's been afraid to make mistakes, but I want to see her just sort of let go and make mistakes and grow and change and evolve and have fun -- all those things that you're supposed to do.

TEEN PEOPLE: She's dated around a little bit. Who do you think she should end up with?
Miriam: I think there's something adorable about Emma and Sean. I really do, I mean, the bad boy and the good girl. Now that he's gone away, maybe he'll come back and their passion's gonna be even stronger. Who knows? The writer's are going to surprise me.

TEEN PEOPLE: Is there anything that you don't like about Emma? Anything annoying?
Miriam: Yeah, she's a little rigid. It's hard to have a huge sense of humor when your stepfather has cancer or when your best friend is getting drunk at parties and needs you as a shoulder to cry on. She just needs to have more of a sense of humor.

TEEN PEOPLE: What's new in Miriam's life?
Miriam: I just moved into my own place. A trial, three months living on my own. The place is furnished. It's got everything I need just to give it a go, and this is a total spur of the moment thing. I looked at places Friday, signed the lease on Tuesday and my friends moved me in on Wednesday. But that's just me; I'm impulsive.

TEEN PEOPLE: Are you ready to cook on your own?
Miriam: I cooked … well I didn't really. I made chicken fingers and fries last night. I put them in the oven, though, that's a start!

TEEN PEOPLE: So, among your friends is there any special someone?
Miriam: Well there's this guy that I've -- no. This isn't the time for me to be rushing into a relationship. I'm making so many changes in my life right now that if I start relying on somebody, then I'm not going to learn to be independent.

TEEN PEOPLE: But you've got a crush.
Miriam: (Laughs) I mean, what can I say?

TEEN PEOPLE: What else do you do with your friends for fun?
Miriam: Oh gosh -- okay, we go shopping, we go listen to live music, mostly rock, indie rock. As far as the big bands go I really like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Rolling Stones and the Beatles and Franz Ferdinand and Death Cab for Cutie. But I also like the pop stuff and I love Madonna's new CD.

TEEN PEOPLE: What's the last band you saw?
Miriam: I saw Stars when they were in Toronto, maybe two weeks ago.

TEEN PEOPLE: So do you get on the list and get a good seat because you're Emma from Degrassi?
Miriam: Going in and pull a diva head? God no, I buy tickets. I try to ignore the VIP treatment. If you get caught up in a person treating you differently because of what you do, then you lose track of yourself as a person.

TEEN PEOPLE: You are you getting more well-known in the U.S. What's the fan reaction been like?
Miriam: It's incredible. They go crazy -- they absolutely freak out when they see us. And it's a little shocking to us because we're just these kids from Canada.

TEEN PEOPLE: What's the craziest thing a fan has done?
Miriam: One of them brought their Chihuahua to a signing in Las Vegas. I was a little weirded out by it. I mean, people give you a shoe to sign and that's weird -- they wanted us to sign their dog? And me and Shane (Kippel, who plays Spinner) were like, "No, we're not signing an animal." I have a picture of me holding onto this little dog. It was a little weird. I've recovered.

TEEN PEOPLE: Any more of a sneak peek you can give us?
Miriam: I think that the first thing you need to look for is some excitement with Emma's love life and some secret affairs gone too far. It's intense!