begins primarily centering around Spike's daughter Emma. She appears in a recurring role for the show's first nine seasons, appearing less frequently in later seasons and departing along with the original cast following the telemovie Degrassi Takes Manhattan in 2010. She would make only a couple of minor television appearances outside of Degrassi: in 2000, she had a bit role in the pilot episode of the American medical drama Strong Medicine, where she played a lady in the waiting room. In 2007, she appeared as a guest star on the science fiction series ReGenesis, playing a scientist who dies in a car explosion caused by a dangerous biochemical. Stepto has said that she still is "drawn back into the acting world every once in a while". Legacy Public image Stepto's "outrageously-coiffed" hair, which she stated was the result of "lots of Final Net", contributed to the media attention she received during the late 1980s. Edmonton Journal staff writer Bob Remington quipped that her hairstyle resembled "a science experiment in electromagnetism". The hairstyle came to be seen as a trademark of both the actress and the character she portrayed on television. Stepto has recalled receiving unwanted attention and harassment as a result of the hairstyle. Speaking to The Grid in 2012, she said that this attention caused her confusion upon her rise to fame: "I realized I couldn’t [continue to] tell people to fuck off and stop staring at me—they were staring at me because I was on the show." Stepto has also recalled being forced to leave public places on multiple occasions because of her hair, once recalling an incident where she was told to leave the Toronto Eaton Centre for "lolling around", despite carrying hundreds of dollars worth of items including a dress for an upcoming awards ceremony. She also recalled getting a "strike" from her ballet teacher as the hair "didn't go with the pink getup". According to Stepto, the harassment inspired a storyline in Degrassi Junior High where Spike is mocked by a diner owner during a job interview. In later interviews, she recalled occasionally getting angry letters from other girls in the punk rock scene threatening to physically attack her because their boyfriends were attracted to her. Degrassi Amanda Stepto was acclaimed for her "honest" portrayal of Spike, and the character has been cited as a "fan favourite", a "trailblazer", and important to the franchise's continuity.