Sharing her side of the story. Jennette McCurdy has gotten honest about being a child star on Nickelodeon — and the experience wasn’t always positive.
Over the years, the California native has appeared on her fair share of shows at the network. She rose to stardom playing Sam Puckett on iCarly from 2007 to 2012. After the show ended, McCurdy continued to explore Sam’s story in the spinoff series Sam & Cat. The series focused on a crossover between Sam and Victorious’s Cat Valentine, who was played by Ariana Grande.
During her time at Nickelodeon, the former actress also made small appearances in Zoey 101, True Jackson, VP, Fred: The Movie, Big Time Rush and Victorious.
In 2014, Sam & Cat was put on a production hiatus in April 2014 amid rumors of conflict between McCurdy and the network. Nickelodeon later confirmed that the show would not be returning for a second season.
“Nickelodeon will not be producing more episodes of Sam & Cat. We are very proud of the show and its very talented cast and we wish them the best,” the network said in a statement to Us Weekly in July 2014.
McCurdy, for her part, moved on to play the leading role of Wiley Day in the short-lived Netflix series Between. After its cancelation, the former singer announced that she had no plans to continue acting.
“I quit a few years ago because I initially didn’t want to do it,” she explained during an episode of her “Empty Inside” podcast in March 2021. “I’m so ashamed of the parts I’ve done in the past. … I resent my career in a lot of ways. I feel so unfulfilled by the roles that I played and felt like it was the most cheesy, embarrassing [thing].”
She added: “Walking away was really difficult but it was something I needed to do for my mental health and for my overall peace.”
Since her departure from the industry, the podcast host has discussed how her tumultuous relationship with her mother, Debra McCurdy, influenced her acting career. Following her mom’s death in 2013, Jennette chose to move on from acting to explore other opportunities.
In August 2022, Jennette detailed her difficult past as an actress in her memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died. “My whole childhood and adolescence were very exploited,” she told The New York Times at the time. “It still gives my nervous system a reaction to say it. There were cases where people had the best intentions and maybe didn’t know what they were doing. And also cases where they did — they knew exactly what they were doing.”
Her former iCarly costar Miranda Cosgrove weighed in on Jennette’s comments about her time on television. “When you’re young, you’re so in your own head,” the School of Rock star said during an interview with The New York Times. “You can’t imagine that people around you are having much harder struggles. You don’t expect things like that from the person in the room who’s making everyone laugh.”
In her book, Jennette admitted that she considered a return to acting after forming better connections in her personal life. “I have people around me now that are so supportive and so loving,” she wrote. “It makes me tearful with joy. I feel so safe. I feel so much trust and so much openness.”
Scroll down for Jennette’s most candid comments about her Nickelodeon journey:
