Nickelodeon Stars: Then and Now

Before she was Carly Shay, fans knew her as “Megan!” -- Drake and Josh’s cunning little sister on Nickelodeon’s Drake & Josh. Cosgrove went on to star in iCarly from 2007 to 2012.

During that time, the longtime Nickelodeon actress began a music career. She released an album called Sparks Fly and a follow-up EP with a song written by punk rocker Avril Lavigne.

Cosgrove voiced Margo in the Despicable Me franchise and hosts the CBS series Mission Unstoppable. In 2016, she played Shea Moore on the TV series Crowded.

The former Nickelodeon star is returning to the network to reprise her role as Carly Shay in the upcoming iCarly revival series on Paramount+. 

McCurdy first appeared on Zoey 101 in 2005. She later went on to have roles in True Jackson, VP and Victorious.

She is best known for her role on iCarly and its spinoff series, Sam & Cat, as the spunky and occasionally combative Sam Puckett, whom she played from 2007 to 2014.

In 2020, the actress planned to tour her one-woman show, I’m Glad My Mom Died. Unfortunately, her performances were postponed indefinitely due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

McCurdy currently hosts the podcast Empty Inside With Jennette McCurdy.

Before his breakout role on iCarly, Kress played Eizan on Shuriken School. The actor also had roles on Without a Trace, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and Drake & Josh.

In 2007, Kress plated nerdy and lovable Freddie Benson on iCarly. 

Kress has continued to act since his time on Nickelodeon. In 2018, the actor played Kyle on Alive in Denver. He also voiced JJ Jameson on the animated series Pinky Malinky through 2019.

The actor is set to reprise his role as Freddie for the upcoming iCarly revival series. 

Werkheiser led Nickelodeon viewers through the ups and downs of middle school life as Ned Bigby on Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide from 2004 to 2007. The actor also voiced Casper on Casper's Scare School in 2006.

In 2007, he had a role on Shredderman Rules. 

In 2019, the Georgia-born actor starred in the made-for-TV Christmas movie Santa Girl. He currently plays Asher on the Twitch series Artificial. 

Werkheiser has amassed a big following on TikTok, where he gives his viewers life advice and entertains them with funny videos.

The Nebraskan-born actress played Ned’s BFF, Jennifer Ann Mosely, more commonly known as “Moze” on Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide from 2004 to 2007. During the series she had a recurring role on Aliens in America.

Shaw also played Kat Stratford on the TV series 10 Things I Hate About You.

Post-Nickelodeon, Shaw played Sasha Harvey on Faking It in 2015. From 2011 to 2017, the actress appeared as Paige McCullers on Pretty Little Liars. 

In 2020, she appeared in the comedy Reboot Camp. 

Pre-Nickelodeon, Lee had a role on The Shield. Beginning in 2004, the actor played Ned Bigby’s other best friend, Simon Nelson-Cook, or “Cookie,” on Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide during the show’s run until 2007.

In 2011, he appeared on the Disney series Good Luck Charlie. 

Since then, Lee has had roles on Glee and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. In 2019, he graduated with honors from California State University Long Beach with a major in linguistics.

He has a recurring role on the series 9-1-1. 

Serratos began her TV career with a role on Zoey 101. In 2006, she had a role in the TV movie Cow Belles.

Beginning in 2007, she played Ned Bigby’s love interest Suzie Crabgrass on Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide.

Post-Nickelodeon, the actress appeared in the Twilight franchise. In 2014, she became a series regular on The Walking Dead.

In 2020, she portrayed Selena Quintanilla in a Netflix series about the late singer. She is still starring on The Walking Dead.

Britney Spears’ little sister was a featured actor on the sketch variety show All That starting in 2002. In 2005, she began her most iconic role to date.

Spears played California boarding school student Zoey Brooks, on the Nickelodeon series Zoey 101.

After Zoey101 ended in 2008, Spears took a hiatus from acting to start a family. The mom of two returned to the small screen in 2020 with the Netflix series Sweet Magnolias. In 2020, Spears dropped a music video for the re-imagined version of the Zoey 101 theme song. There are no current plans for a reboot, but the actress remains hopeful.

"I think that the reboot is going to happen even faster now that we have done this song because, not only was the chemistry still there but we saw what the world will look like in today's world," she said. "So I think that all this did was push this to happen sooner."

Before Flynn played the always friend-zoned Chase Matthews on Zoey 101, he had a handful of TV and movie roles. He played Jason on the TV series Sliders in 1996.

In 2001, he played Scott in the film Alex in Wonder.

Since his Nickelodeon days, the actor has appeared on several TV shows and movies. He was a Hatfield in Hatfields and McCoys: Bad Blood. In 2014, he played Jason on Devious Maids.

In 2019, he had a role in the short film The Unicorn Sisters. 

The actress played Zoey’s artsy pal Lola Martinez on Zoey 101. After the series ended in 2008, Justice starred as Tori Vega on the Nick series Victorious from 2010 to 2013.

She also had roles on iCarly and True Jackson, VP.

The actress has kept busy post-Nickelodeon. She was the star of the 2015 crime drama Eye Candy. In 2016, she was Janet in the TV movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again.

In 2020, she appeared on the Facebook Watch series The Real Bros of Simi Valley.

Before she was a Dangerous Woman, Grande had roles on Victorious and Sam & Cat. She voices Princess Diaspro on the animated series Winx Club.

In 2015, she played Chanel #2 on Scream Queens. 

The “Rain on Me” singer has been living her best life since her Nickelodeon days. She has sold out arenas for multiple world tours of her various award-winning albums. In 2019, she became a GRAMMY Award winner.

Grande is currently engaged to luxury home realtor Dalton Gomez. 

The Canadian-born actor played handsome and popular Beck Oliver on Victorious during the show’s three-year run. Jogia also had roles on Aliens in America and Caprica.

In 2012, he played Finn in the TV movie Rags. 

The former Nick actor went on to have roles in multiple TV series and movies. Jogia starred on ABC Family’s Twisted from 2013 to 2014. He had a role in the 2017 film The Year of Spectacular Men.

In 2019, he starred alongside Emma Stone and Jesse Eisenberg in Zombieland: Double Tap.

Before he was Tori Vega’s musically talented friend André Harris on Victorious, Thomas had a few TV and movie roles. In 2007, he was Arthur in the movie August Rush. He voiced Tyrone on the animated kids series The Backyardigans from 2006 to 2009.

In 2014, he was the singing voice of Monster on the Nickelodeon series Robot and Monster.

Since his Nickelodeon days, Thomas has had many TV roles. The actor appeared on Insecure, Mr. Student Body President and Woman Up.

He currently plays Harrison on the series FraXtur. 

Gillies played tough girl and Tori Vega frenemy Jade West on Victorious during the show’s run. She also voiced various roles on the animated Nickelodeon series Winx Club from 2007 to 2014, including Daphne, Lorie and Kanika.

She also played young Jenny on the TV show The Black Donnellys.

Since Nickelodeon, the actress has appeared in her real-life friend Ariana Grande’s music videos, including “Right There” and “Thank U, Next." She starred on the 2015 series Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll. 

She is currently a lead on the soap opera revival of Dynasty.

Palmer's first role was Gina's niece in Barbershop 2: Back in Business. The Illinois–born actress was the star of the spelling bee film, Akeelah and the Bee.

On Nickelodeon, the actress played a high schooler-turned-fashion brand vice president on the hit series, True Jackson, VP.

Since the series wrapped in 2011, Palmer had starring roles on the 90210 reboot (2013), Scream Queens (2015), Berlin Station (2017), Star (2017) and Scream: The TV Series (2019). In 2019, she starred alongside Jennifer Lopez in the movie Hustlers.

It was announced that she will join the Proud Family revival series on Disney+.

Argota played Palmer’s excitable sidekick Lulu Johnson on True Jackson, VP. Her Nickelodeon career continued with Bucket and Skinner's Epic Adventures.

In 2014, she swapped her orange blimp for mouse ears and a role on the Disney series Austin & Ally.

The actress was on The Fosters from 2014 to 2016. She played Kiana in both the movie and the Go90 teen-alien-pregnancy TV comedy, Snatchers.  

The California-born actress has many upcoming projects, including the movies I Hate New Years and Don’t Log Off.

Amell's first project was Cheaper by the Dozen 2. Before he joined Nickelodeon, he played Max on Disney's Life with Derek.

In 2008, the actor played True Jackson’s love interest, Jimmy Madigan, on True Jackson, VP.

You’ve probably seen Amell’s face a lot recently. He leads the 2020 Amazon series Upload and is one of the stars of the Netflix original movie Desperados.

He and his wife, Italia Ricci, welcomed their first child together in 2019.

Beginning in 1996, Bynes was a major standout on the Nickelodeon variety series All That.

In 1999, she became the star of the variety series The Amanda Show. Bynes led the sketch show, but her co-stars Drake Bell and Josh Peck also went onto become major Nickelodeon stars.

Bynes had a string of successful teen movies in the 2000s. Her films What a Girl Wants (2003), She’s the Man (2006), Sydney White (2007), Hairspray (2007) and Easy A (2010) made her one of the most coveted celebs of the decade. 

In 2011, Bynes took a hiatus from acting to focus on her mental health and to attend fashion school in Los Angeles.

All That launched a lot of young careers, including Thompson’s.

While starring on the variety sketch series, the Atlanta-born actor also starred on Kenan & Kel from 1996 to 2000. In 1997, he and Kel Mitchell starred in the feature length film version inspired by the show's popular sketch, Good Burger.

Thompson joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 2003. The actor is its longest-tenured cast member, but plans to retire from the variety series eventually. 

The busy actor has appeared on The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2016-2019), Maya & Marty (2016) and in The Smurfs movie franchise. In 2021, he became the star of his own sitcom, Kenan. 

The Chicago-born actor's first ever TV role was on All That in 1994. From there, he would appear on the '90s series Sister, Sister, The Steve Harvey Show and Cousin Skeeter.

He and All That co-star Kenan Thompson went onto star in their own buddy comedy, Kenan & Kel, from 1996 to 2000.

Mitchell made a comeback as his famous All That character, Ed, in the 2019 All That reboot. The actor is also credited as a producer of the series.

The '90s comedic star has lent his voice to various animated TV shows, including SpongeBob SquarePants, VeggieTales and Robot Chicken.

Denberg was one of the stars of the sketch series All That. The '90s comedic actress was featured in the Good Burger movie with All That co-stars Kenan and Kel. 

Denberg has had roles on The Steve Harvey Show and Malcolm in the Middle. 

The '90s star is still acting. Her post-Nickelodeon career includes Dodgeball (2004), Ham on Rye (2019) and the All That reboot where she reprised her famous roles such as Ms. Hushbaum and Fran.

Denberg is expected to appear on the upcoming show The Tonopah Five.

Back in 2007, Nat and his brother Alex were the stars of the Nickelodeon series The Naked Brothers Band. The popular TV series became a movie, The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie, in 2005.

During the series, the band released two albums. 

Since the series wrapped in 2009, the older Wolff brother has starred in several movies. The actor has had roles in The Fault in Our Stars (2014), Paper Towns (2015), Home Again (2017) and Rosy (2018).

In 2020, the former Nick star began playing Lloyd Henreid in the TV adaptation of Stephen King’s novel The Stand. 

Alex was the other half of The Naked Brothers Band, which aired on Nickelodeon from 2007 to 2009. Afterward, the young actor had a role in the George Lopez TV movie Mr. Troop Mom.

In 2010, he played Max Weston on the series In Treatment.

Post-Nickelodeon, the New York-born actor played the love interest in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2006).

He also appeared in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), Hereditary (2018) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019). In 2021, you can expect to see this Wolff brother in the film Old. 

The Connecticut-born actress played Rosalina, the Naked Brothers Band’s bass player, on the TV series of the same name. She would also appear in the The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie.

DiMeco took a break from acting in 2009.

After leaving the entertainment biz, DiMeco became a masters student. She later returned to TV as a reality game show contestant on two different shows.

She appeared on the 2019 reality series Temptation Island and Ex on the Beach.

The Naked Brothers Band guitarist played himself on the Nickelodeon series. The Brooklyn-born actor also appeared in the 2006 movie Threat.

He was one of the featured child musicians in the 2006 HBO documentary The Music in Me. 

Middleton was a contestant on Season 14 of American Idol. He finished in eighth place. 

The talented performer has continued to act. Middleton has appeared on TV shows such as Atlanta and The Get Down. In 2020, he had a role on The Forty-Year-Old Version. His upcoming projects include a movie called Steps.

From 2004 to 2007, Roberts was the star of the Nickelodeon series Unfabulous. Roberts played Addie Singer, a musically-talented middle schooler with a big imagination. 

During that time, she appeared in the teen mermaid comedy Aquamarine (2006) and played the titular role in Nancy Drew (2007).

The actress has been a series regular on Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story anthology series since 2013. She has appeared in a number of big-name movies, including Scream 4 (2011), We’re the Millers (2013) and UglyDolls (2019). She also played the famously rich and mean Chanel on Scream Queens.

In 2020, Roberts gave birth to her first child with boyfriend Garrett Hedlund.

The actress, born Malese Jow, played Addie Singer’s boy-crazy, fashionable BFF Geena Fabiano on Unfabulous. She also appeared as Lucy Stone on Big Time Rush.

From there, she had roles in the Bratz movie and on iCarly. 

In 2013, the Oklahoma-born TV personality replaced Arielle Kebbel as the host of The Vampire Diaries’ side show TVD Rehash (Re#ash).

She also appeared on two shows in 2014, Star-Crossed and The Flash. Her recent roles include MTV’s The Shannara Chronicles, NCIS: Los Angeles and in the movie Escape Plan: The Extractors.

In 2021, she appeared on the TV show Invincible. 

The Los Angeles-born actor got his start with a small role on the TV series The Parkers in 2000. He would later play K.J. Thibeaux on the medical drama ER.

Calloway joined the cast of Unfabulous at age 14. He played Addie Singer’s best guy friend, Zach Carter-Schwartz.

After his role on Riverdale as Chuck Clayton from 2017 to 2018, Calloway moved onto another CW show called Black Lightning. He currently plays Khalil Payne on the series.

In 2021, he will appear on the show Painkiller. 

Before his Nickelodeon career took off, Fenske appeared in the 2001 film Bubble Boy. The child star also had roles on Lizzie McGuire, CSI: Miami and 24.

In 2004, Fenske played Jake Behari, a.k.a. the crush Addie Singer could never get out of her head, on Unfabulous.

The Maryland-born brunette stopped acting in 2013. From the looks of his Instagram, he’s been keeping busy with travel, surfing and golf.

He is still friends with his Unfabulous co-star Jordan Calloway. Fenske even made a sweet 2019 bday post for his friend, complete with Nickelodeon-era throwback pics.

Peck was a series regular on The Amanda Show. During that time, he had roles in the movies Snow Day and Max Keeble's Big Move.

Starting in 2004, the comedic actor played the responsible, studious foil to Drake Bell on the Nick sitcom Drake & Josh.