The actress also opened up about whether she'd consider returning for the 'iCarly' revival coming to Paramount+.
Jennette McCurdy is done with acting.
During the latest episode of her podcast, Empty Inside, the 28-year-old actress revealed she quit acting a few years ago, admitting, "I resent my career in a lot of ways." McCurdy first rose to fame in 2007 for portraying Sam Puckett on Nickelodeon's iCarly, later reprising the role for Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande.
"I quit a few years ago because I initially didn't want to do it. My mom [Debra McCurdy] put me in it when I was six and by sort of age, I guess, 10 or 11, I was the main financial support for my family," Jennette confessed to guest Anna Faris. "My family didn't have a lot of money, and this was the way out, which I actually think was helpful in driving me to some degree of success."
"Always, always, always, acting was difficult for me," she continued. "Once I started to get the nerves under control was when I started to actually get some traction, but I ultimately quit after my mom passed away [in 2013] because with her death kind of died a lot of her ideas for my life, and that was its own journey, and a difficult one for sure."
Fans have been patiently waiting to hear if McCurdy would join her former co-stars, like Miranda Cosgrove, Nathan Kress and Jerry Trainor, for the iCarly revival coming to Paramount+. However, when asked by Faris if she'd be down to return to acting for the revival, McCurdy set the record straight. She said while she did take part in a one-woman show titled I'm Glad My Mom Died last February, she considers it a one-off.
"I wrote this one-woman show, and I performed that, and I really did not want to because of the nerves," McCurdy said. "Because of feeling like I don't want to f**king act anymore, 'I'm done.' So I did it just for that show, but I think that one-woman show would be the most of it."
"My experience with acting is, I'm so ashamed of the parts I've done in the past. I resent my career in a lot of ways," she continued. "I feel so unfulfilled by the roles that I played and felt like it was the most cheesy, embarrassing. I did the shows that I was on from, like, 13 to 21, and by 15, I was already embarrassed. My friends at 15, they're not like, 'Oh, cool, you're on this Nickelodeon show.' It was embarrassing. And I imagine there's a very different experience to be had with acting if you're proud of your roles, and if you feel fulfilled by them."
ET previously reported that Ali Schouten (All Night, Champions) is developing the iCarly revival and serves as executive producer and showrunner. Nickelodeon is producing the revival -- described "as a new chapter for the most successful kids’ sitcom of all time" -- for ViacomCBS’ streaming service.
As we wait for more details, stream all seasons of iCarly starting March 4 on Paramount+.
ET and Paramount+ are both subsidiaries of ViacomCBS.
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