‘iCarly’ Star Jennette McCurdy Confirms She Won’t Return to Reboot, Says She’s ‘Embarrassed’ by Her Roles

The upcoming iCarly reboot may be bringing back much of the original cast, but fans shouldn’t be holding out hope for Jenette McCurdy to reprise her role as Sam Puckett. As anticipation runs high for the reboot, which is currently filming with original stars Miranda Cosgrove, Jerry Trainor, and Nathan Kress, McCurdy recently confirmed she will not return for the series.

McCurdy, who went on to star in her own spin-off, Sam & Cat, following iCarly, made the revelation during a recent episode of her Empty Inside podcast, telling podcast interviewee Anna Faris that she “quit a few years ago to try [her] hand and writing and directing,” something that she said is “going great,” according to E! News. McCurdy said she quit acting because she “initially didn’t want to do it,” explaining that her mother got her into the career when she was just “6 and by sort of age, I guess, 10 or 11, I was the main financial support for my family.” The 28-year-old, who said that “always, always, always, acting was difficult for me” due to nerves during auditions, said she officially retired from acting following her mother’s 2013 death from cancer, “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.” McCurdy also admitted to feeling embarrassed about the roles she landed throughout her career.

“My experience with acting is, I’m so ashamed of the parts I’ve done in the past,” she said. “I resent my career in a lot of ways. 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.”

McCurdy briefly returned to acting in 2020 for her one-woman show I’m Glad My Mom Died, which explored her mother’s death. She admitted during her podcast that she “didn’t really want to” perform the piece due to her “nerves” and “because of feeling like I don’t want to f—ing act anymore, ‘I’m done.’” As for if she ever sees herself returning for acting, McCurdy said she would potentially consider a return if an opportunity arose to collaborate with a director she “really admired.” She added, “I feel like I have a point of view, and I have a vision. We’ll see where things are in a few years.”

iCarly ran on Nickelodeon for six seasons from 2007 until 2012 starring Cosgrove as Carly Shae, McCurdy as her best friend Sam, and Kress as Freddie. In December 2020, ViacomCBS announced it would be reviving the series on Paramount+. The series is currently filming, though a premiere date has not yet been announced.