Whatever Happened to Jennette McCurdy?
People who watched kids’ TV in the late 2000s and early 2010s should remember Jennette McCurdy. After all, she played the role of iCarly‘s Sam Puckett, whose brashness made her popular with a significant percentage of the iCarly fandom. In fact, McCurdy’s character proved to be so popular that she received a spin-off show in which the character started a baby-sitting business with a roommate, who was played by Arianna Grande. Said spin-off show was called Sam & Cat, which managed to secure a peak viewership of 4.6 million viewers as well as the highest rating that Nickelodeon had received in years and years.
Unfortunately, Sam & Cat came to a conclusion with a total of 35 episodes. The exact cause is unclear, not least because there were a lot of rumors being whispered in those times. However, it seems that there were some serious tensions between McCurdy and Nickelodeon as well as perhaps between McCurdy and Nickelodeon. In short, McCurdy outright blasted Nickelodeon for putting her in an “unfair” and “uncomfortable” situation, which might have been connected to the rumors that she was being paid less than her co-star in spite of their equal billing. As for the supposed feud with Grande, the exact state of relations between them was complicated by the fact that both sides were smart enough to remain silent on the matter, though the fans of both actresses put enormous efforts into interpreting what was implied by what was and wasn’t said. Ultimately, it seemed that there really was some kind of hostility between the two. However, to their credit, they have since made up, though not in time to save Sam & Cat.
The whole thing is particularly notable because McCurdy was going through some serious issues in those times. For example, her mother passed away in September of 2013, which was particularly hard-hitting because McCurdy had been very close to her mother. Furthermore, McCurdy got caught up in her first genuine scandal when photos of her in her lingerie were leaked onto the Internet, which resulted in what one might call a celebrity media feeding frenzy. Said leak followed McCurdy calling her one-time boyfriend Andre Drummond a “bad kisser,” which resulted in a lot of people including McCurdy suspecting that Drummond was the one responsible for leaking them. Whatever the case, McCurdy came out of those times intact, with the result that her career has continued on since that time.
What Is Jennette McCurdy Doing Now?
For those who are curious, McCurdy has continued acting. For a short time, she followed in the footsteps of her predecessors by releasing a country music album, but when that failed to secure impressive results, she has focused more on her acting.
First, McCurdy did an online show called What’s Next for Sarah?, which was interesting because she didn’t just act in it but also wrote for the show as well. Said show was very much inspired by her life, meaning that it had some familiar elements. Moreover, it seems to have strengthened her interest in writing because she has expressed a more recent interest in writing and producing her own sitcom at some point in the future.
Besides What’s Next for Sarah?, McCurdy has been busy with other projects as well. For example, there was the Canadian series Between, which is about a pregnant teenager in a town that has fallen to a mysterious sickness that has killed everyone over the age of 21. Due to this, the show explored various subjects such as the power vacuums that ensure with the collapse of central authority and the consequences for communities when hormonal teenagers become their guiding forces. Likewise, there was a psychological thriller called Pet, in which McCurdy played a character named Claire, who was the friend of the female main character. On top of this, it is interesting to note that McCurdy has done a fair amount of writing for various publications such as Seventeen and The Wall Street Journal.
Summed up, McCurdy is still very much active in the world of entertainment. Currently, she is still acting. However, her interest in writing means that it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see her make a transition to writing for shows in the future, assuming that everything goes well for her.