History Creator / AmandaStepto

She would later reprise her role as an adult on ''Degrassi: The Next Generation'', of which Spike's daughter Emma is a central character. To date, ''Degrassi'' has been her only major role, with the rest of her filmography consisting of a handful of short films and minor television appearances.

* ''Degrassi Junior High'' (1987-1989) - Christine "Spike" Nelson
* ''Series/DegrassiHigh'' (1989-1991) - Christine "Spike" Nelson
* ''Film/DegrassiSchoolsOut'' (1992) - Christine "Spike" Nelson
* ''Series/DegrassiTalks'' (1992) - Herself (host and interviewer)

* ''Degrassi: The Next Generation'' (2001-2009) - Christine "Spike" Nelson
* ''Series/ReGenesis'' (2007) - Leslie [=McCaine=]

* CreatorBacklash: She came to despise ''Film/DegrassiSchoolsOut'', the TV movie finale to ''Series/DegrassiHigh'', but more so for behind-the-scenes reasons; in a 2019 podcast interview, she recalled that at the time of the show's production, she had been living on her own with virtually '''NO''' money and was unable to pay her rent, so she asked to be included in the film's party scenes, but was ultimately relegated to a very minor role.

* PunkRock: She's said that if you weren't into punk in the late 80s, she didn't want to be your friend.

'''Amanda Stepto''' (born July 31, 1970) is a Canadian actress who is best known for playing Christine "Spike" Nelson in the ''Franchise/{{Degrassi}}'' franchise, from ''Series/DegrassiJuniorHigh'' to ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration''. In ''Degrassi'', she is known for being the spiky-haired punk rock chick who got [[TeenPregnancy pregnant at fourteen]], and for birthing Emma Nelson and indirectly the ''ENTIRE CONCEPT'' of ''Degrassi: The Next Generation''.

Outside of ''Degrassi'', Amanda wasn't just playing a punk rock chick. She (and her SpikyHair) was the REAL DEAL. She was attending the Etobicoke School of the Arts sometime in 1986 when she noticed an audition flyer for ''Degrassi Junior High''. When they wanted a photo of her, her parents didn't want to take one with her hair spiked, but Stepto reportedly said "[[PrecisionFStrike Fuck them!]]" and insisted. Because Degrassi was quite punk rock in spirit, it only seemed natural for someone like Amanda to get the part anyway.

When Spike got pregnant, the character's popularity (much like her stomach) got pretty huge, and she traveled internationally to promote the show. The fame on ''Degrassi'' actually sort of amplified her cred in the Toronto punk scene anyway, as local bands would sometimes send demo tapes to her via fan mail to get noticed. Girls would threaten to beat the shit out of her because their boyfriends liked her, and she was thrown out of various public places on account of her hair. At one point, she blasted the song "Fuck The USA" by The Exploited on set, which allegedly horrified everyone around her.

Her ''Degrassi'' character became somewhat of a "spokesperson" for teenage pregnancy, and she was treated like a counselor by the fans, who often bombarded her with questions such as, quote Degrassi creator Linda Schuyler: "I really like my boyfriend...should we have sex?". The character was also influenced by Amanda's own background and her worries about sex education at the time doing jack shit.

After ''Degrassi'' in 1992, she was briefly a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood in the province of Alberta, and underwent a four-week long tour in May 1993 with the slogan "Let's Talk About It", which briefly drew the ire of some MoralGuardians at one school but otherwise appeared to have went without a hitch. However, not much is known about her life in TheNineties except she earned a BA in history & political science at the University Of Toronto, and then moved to Japan for one year to teach English.

She reprised her role as Spike, now older and wiser, on ''Degrassi: The Next Generation'', from 2001 to 2010. She's also DJ'd with Stacie Mistysyn (Caitlin Ryan) a few times since then.

* SirSwearsALot: Demonstrated at the Degrassi Palooza. In the words of Stefan Brogren (Snake): "Who knew Spike had such a potty mouth? She's disgusting!".
* SpikyHair: That hair wasn't for the character; it was her real hair.
** On one podcast, she told a story of when she went to see the Smiths on her sixteenth birthday, and because it was raining, by the end of the concert she was soaked and her hair flopped off to one side.
** On the same podcast, she recalled going to a shopping centre to a buy a dress for an award ceremony, and getting thrown out by a security guard who claimed she was loitering. All because of the hair.

* NinetiesHair: During 1992-1993, she sported [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78000422/edmonton-journal/ box] [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77487811/calgary-herald/ braids].

When Spike got pregnant, the character's popularity (much like her stomach) got pretty huge, and she traveled internationally to promote the show. The fame on ''Degrassi'' actually sort of amplified her cred in the Toronto punk scene anyway, as local bands would sometimes send demo tapes to her via fan mail to get noticed. Girls would threaten to beat the shit out of her because their boyfriends liked her, and she was thrown out of various public places on account of her hair.

After ''Degrassi'' in 1992, she was briefly a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood in the province of Alberta, and underwent a four-week long tour in May 1993 with the slogan "Let's Talk About It". However, not much is known about her life in TheNineties except she earned a BA in history & political science at the University Of Toronto, and then moved to Japan for one year to teach English.

'''Amanda Stepto''' (born July 31, 1970) is a Canadian actress who is best known for playing Christine "Spike" Nelson in the ''Franchise/{{Degrassi}}'' franchise, from ''Series/DegrassiJuniorHigh'' to ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration''.

** On one podcast, she told a story of when she went to see the Smiths on her sixteenth birthday, and because it was raining, by the end of the concert she was soaked and her hair flopped off to one side.

* SpikyHair: That hair wasn't for the character; it was her real hair.