Jennette McCurdy revealed at the 2nd season premiere of her podcast, “Empty Inside,” because she ended up acting.
“I resent my career in many ways,” she said. “I feel so dissatisfied with the roles I played and felt that they were the most tacky, embarrassing … I imagine there is a very different experience to be had in acting if you are proud of your roles.”
The former Nickelodeon star debuted in the February 24 episode of “Empty Inside”, which featured Anna Faris. The discussion covered the inauthenticity of talk shows, rejection and first acting shows.
Faris reflected on the industry’s difficulties, but ended up concluding that he was beginning to feel the “itchiness” of acting again. She asked if McCurdy ever felt rewarded for a character she played.
“I’m so ashamed of the parts I’ve done in the past,” said McCurdy. “I understand that this response is extremely unpleasant.”
Now 28, McCurdy is best known for his role as Sam Puckett on Nickelodeon’s “iCarly”, who was Carly’s best friend, Miranda Cosgrove’s titular. Later, she played Sam in a spinoff of “iCarly” – “Victorious” called “Sam & Cat” alongside Ariana Grande, but the show lasted only one season.
In sharing her early career stories, McCurdy recalled a memory of when she was 10 years old. Her mother was yelling at her agent because the agent failed to get McCurdy auditioned for “Because of Winn-Dixie” from 2005. The agent was on speaker, so McCurdy heard them say she didn’t get the audition because it was “homely” and not a “beautiful ethereal”.
“I stopped a few years ago because I didn’t want to do that initially,” explained McCurdy. “My family didn’t have a lot of money and that was the way out, which I really think was helpful in getting me to some degree of success.”
Acting has always been difficult for McCurdy and when she got on her nerves and started gaining strength in her career, her mother died.
“With her death, a lot of her ideas for my life died, and this was her own journey, and a difficult one for sure.”
She considers her program written by herself last February, “I’m Glad My Mom Died”, a one-time occurrence, indicating that she is unlikely to join the “iCarly” revival in the work of Paramount Plus.
“If it was a director that I really admired or someone whose work I really admired, I would be very excited,” said McCurdy. “But just because of my past and the auditions that would go through my eyes, I was like OK, well, that’s how the industry sees me and I don’t want to do that.”