Like many of the other actors of the classic Degrassi era, she had actually never acted before. Despite her parents' protests, she auditioned with her spiked hair, and enamored the producers, who created the Spike character for her. Playing the role of a pregnant teen caused a lot of people to believe it was real, which led to her receiving baby products from fans.
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 two minor television appearances, including one on the science fiction show ReGenesis in which she plays a scientist who is mysteriously killed in an explosion.
Roles:
- Degrassi Junior High (1987-1989) - Christine "Spike" Nelson (37 episodes)
- Degrassi High (1989-1991) - Christine "Spike" Nelson (25 episodes)
- Degrassi: School's Out! (1992) - Christine "Spike" Nelson
- Degrassi Talks (1992) - Herself (host and interviewer) (6 episodes)
- Big Deal So What (1995) - Ruth
- The Book Of Knives (1995/1997?)
- Pizza Mind - My Baby's Got It Going On (music video, 1998) - Herself
- Strong Medicine (2000) - Mary Vitorelli (1 episode)
- Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001-2009) - Christine "Spike" Nelson (51 episodes)
- ReGenesis (2007) - Leslie McCaine (2 episodes)
Tropes about a girl named Spike:
- Creator Backlash: She came to despise Degrassi: School's Out!, the TV movie finale to Degrassi High. While one web interview in the 90s quoted her as disliking it for being generally a bad send-off, she later elaborated that it was 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.
- '80s Hair: One of the wildest examples.
- '90s Hair: During 1992-1993, she sported box
braids. - Former Teen Rebel: Sort of. She has said that she used be very punky back in the day, but even in middle age she still gives off a "fuck you" vibe.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Cathy Keenan, who plays Liz O'Rourke, mirroring their characters.
- As of post-2001, Stacie Mistysyn, who plays Caitlin Ryan.
- Noodle Incident: At the Degrassi Palooza she mentioned that "me and Cathy did a lot of shit in The '80s that we're glad cell phones weren't around".
- Punk Rock: An obvious fan and the reason for her hair. She's claimed that if you weren't into punk in the 80s, she didn't like you.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Demonstrated at the 2019 Degrassi Palooza and on a few podcast interviews.
- Spiky Hair: That hair wasn't for the character; it was her real hair, and she got a lot of flak for it.
