Jennette mccurdy and joe

When longtime fans tuned into the new iCarly reboot, one person was noticeably absent from the cast: Jennette McCurdy, who played Carly’s best friend Sam in the original iteration of the show.

That’s because McCurdy quit acting several years ago in order to pursue more behind-camera work; her last on-camera appearance was in a short 2018 film called The First Lady.

"I feel so unfulfilled by the roles that I played,” McCurdy, who is now 29, said on a recent episode of her podcast Empty Insideof the decision.

“I did the shows that I was on from like 13 to 21, and by 15, I was already embarrassed.

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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.”

Instead, McCurdy has focused on writing and directing her own short films, most of which have some autobiographical threads to them.

Her 2019 short film, Strong I