In December 2020, an official statement from Paramount+ revealed that an iCarly reboot was in the works and expected to arrive on the streaming platform the following year. It was further revealed that the likes of Miranda Cosgrove (Carly Shay), Jerry Trainor (Spencer Shay), and Nathan Kress (Freddie Benson) were all returning to reprise their famous roles.
One person who was not returning, though, was Jennette McCurdy’s character Sam Puckett, who was one of the original cast members while the former teen sitcom aired between 2007 and 2012 on Nickelodeon. Fans were stunned by the news that McCurdy had chosen not to return, despite rumors that there had been an exceptional offer put in place, yet she wasn’t interested.
A few weeks after the reboot was announced, McCurdy, who is worth $5 million, revealed she had quit acting and had no plans of returning to her former profession anytime soon. She’s since focused her attention on her podcast, Empty Inside, while spending her off-time working on writing on screenplays for film and TV, rather than appearing in front of the camera.
What Were Jennette’s Reasons For Not Returning?
As previously mentioned, McCurdy played the character, Sam Puckett, from 2007 to 2012, alongside her Cosgrove, Kress, and Trainor. Though the statement made it very clear who was returning to the revival in early 2021, McCurdy’s name was not mentioned, leaving many to believe she had either not been asked to return or she had declined the offer.
Well, it turns out it was the latter after all. She didn’t want to return to a show she had previously hinted had left with “psychological trauma.” According to Newsweek, McCurdy’s bio on her official website prior to the iCarly reboot announcement read, “I started out as a child actor … that certainly lent some psychological trauma (sound guys can be especially creepy!).”
Though iCarly wasn’t the only show Puckett had been a part of in her teens, many were quick to assume she was referring to the Nickelodeon show given that disgraced TV producer Dan Schneider was the creator of the program.
He, in particular, has made a lot of headlines in recent years with claims he allegedly harassed his former colleagues — an allegation which he’s strongly denied. McCurdy’s bio has since been changed to, “Jennette McCurdy got her start in child acting, which by her late teen years had brought her success (she starred in Nickelodeon’s hit show iCarly and her own spin-off, Sam & Cat).
“Despite her outside success, McCurdy felt ashamed of 90% of her resume and ultimately unfulfilled, so she turned to alcohol, but since that didn’t work, she quit acting and began pursuing writing/directing in 2017.” In a 2020 interview, she had also admitted that being cast on iCarlybrought along “complicated feelings” due to the toxic environment she was surrounded by.
“I had to kind of fight the demons on my own time,” she said about her decision to quit acting in 2016. “I went dark. I went off of social media. I quit acting. I had to make these pretty big life decisions in order to deal with my stuff, my life.” “I’m not fully there yet. I still have complicated feelings toward my past from my experience with Nickelodeon.
“It’s something that I work on. I’d like to get to a place of peace with my past. That would be great.” She gave away that her experience working at Nickelodeon wasn’t all that great, and that the passing of her mother left her to put her own mental wellbeing on hold to overcome the horror of grieving the loss of a parent.
“I had to come to peace with [my mom’s death] first,” she gushed. “And then it’s like, ‘OK, now I can kind of get [to other things].’ I had to fix the eating disorder, and now I can kind of get to the other stuff. It was a little bit lower on the priority list but it’s now more of a priority.”
“I would not have such an enjoyable life if these people weren’t in it,” McCurdy continued to say about her former iCarly co-stars. “The human connections you have with people is always what determines whether, ultimately, something is a good or bad experience.”
Then, in March 2021, the blonde beauty took to her Empty Inside podcast to further explain why she felt strongly about not wanting to take part in the revival.
“I quit a few years ago because I initially didn't want to do it,” she gushed. “My mom put me in it when I was 6 and by sort of age, I guess, 10 or 11, I was the main financial support for my family. 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.” McCurdy says she doesn’t regret leaving acting behind and that working behind the scenes has been a much more fulfilling experience for her.
Meanwhile, the iCarly reboot has since been renewed for a second series, it was confirmed in July 2021. McCurdy is not expected to be a part of Season 2. Have you been watching the reboot?
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