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Ryan Cooley, born May 18, 1988, is a Canadian actor best known for playing J.T. Yorke on the first 6 seasons of Degrassi: The Next Generation. Contrary to popular belief, the choice to leave Degrassi was not Ryan's. He revealed in a 2007 interview that the writers decided to kill J.T. off, although Ryan was considering going to college at the time. "It did come as a surprise to me that my character was getting killed off the show," explained Cooley. "But at the time [early 2006], I was contemplating going to University and leaving the show, so it kind of came together nicely. My last episode was shot in August, and knowing that I wasn’t coming back made it easier for me to decide to go to university."

He attended the University of Toronto for drama. Before he came to Degrassi, he portrayed the lead role of Pleskit in the TV show I Was a Sixth Grade Alien, in which he co-starred with Daniel Clark andLauren Collins. He can also be seen in Color of Friendship, Life with Derek, and a Toaster Strudel commercial. He played "Waif Kid" in the Season Seven Premiere's TV movie The Tale of the Silver Sight on the Canadian show, Are You Afraid of the Dark?. In 2014, he made his voice acting debut in BeyWarriors: BeyRaiderz voicing Task Landau.

Trivia

  • Ryan is a Taurus.
  • Ryan formerly dated his Degrassi co-stars, Miriam McDonald and Sarah Barrable-Tishauer.
  • He worked with Daniel Clark and Lauren Collins in both Degrassi and I Was a Sixth Grade Alien.
  • Ryan originally auditioned for the part of Jimmy Brooks.
  • In a zoom call, Jake Goldsbie, who played Toby Isaacs, claimed that Ryan Cooley decided not to appear in Aubrey "Drake" Graham's "I'm Upset" music video, which contradicts popular belief and Drake's own claim that Cooley didn't go because he thought it was a scam. On February 17, 2021, Andrea Lewis, who played Hazel Aden, shared on Tiktok her own side of the story. She said: "Truthfully (Ryan) didn't want to come, Sarah 'Liberty' talked to him and he wasn't interested...being on TV, isn't always fun."
  • Like his character, he starred in commercials and similar TV segments as a child.
  • On February 27th, 2019, Ryan announced his engagement on his Instagram [1]

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