10+ of Our Favorite Nickelodeon Stars Then vs Now

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After watching a well-loved film or TV show, we often discuss it or recommend it to our friends. And then after watching it maybe one more time, some of us want to know about the celebrities that played our favorite characters.

We at Bright Side made a list of the most popular stars on Nickelodeon. You might be surprised by how much those you loved in your childhood have changed.

Jennette McCurdy — Samantha Puckett in iCarly

In 2008, Jennette was nominated for a Young Artist Award for her performance in iCarly and the TV movie The Last Day of Summer. She also started working on her debut album, and in 2009 her first single, “So Close,” was released. One year later, Jennette released her EP. In 2013, McCurdy starred with Ariana Grande in the Nickelodeon series Sam & Cat. In 2014, she started a new project — the online show What’s Next for Sarah? on Vimeo. Since 2015, she’s been starring in the Netflix drama series Between. McCurdy signed a development deal in 2016 with digital production company Canvas Media Studios to further use her social media connections with fans.

Jamie Lynn Spears — Jamie Spears in All That

In 2002, Jamie made her debut in the drama Crossroads, in which her sister, Britney Spears, also starred. After 2 seasons of All That, Jamie left the project and came to Zoey 101, where she took a leading role. In 2005, she won a Young Artist Award and a Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award in the category of Outstanding Young Performer in a TV Series. Following her older sister, Jamie started working on her country music album. In 2011, Spears performed at the Rutledge in Nashville. Jamie released her first single “How Could I Want More” in 2013 ​and a second single called “Sleepover” ​​​​​​in 2016.

Matt Bennett — Robbie Shapiro in Victorious

Matt is best known for his role as Robbie Shapiro in Victorious and as Howard’s younger brother in The Big Bang Theory. In 2011, he was nominated for a Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award (UK) in the category of Nick UK’s Funniest Person. Matt released his first EP, named Warm Fuzzies, in 2012. In 2015, Bennett had roles in Game Shakers and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, and he appeared in Fresh Off the Boat in 2016.

Leon Thomas III — André Harris in Victorious

Since 2012, Leon has been part of the music industry and released his first mixtape — Metro Hearts — on August 1, his birthday. Thomas co-wrote the song “Ain’t No Other Me” for the British group Stooshe and 4 songs for Ariana Grande’s album in 2013. He also formed the producing team The Rascals and won a Grammy. Moreover, Wiz Khalifa was featured in Leon’s single “Hello How Are You.” In 2016, Thomas co-produced an album for the American rapper, singer, and songwriter Post Malone.

Drake Bell — Drake in Drake and Josh

While starring in Drake and Josh, Bell appeared as himself in Zoey 101 and won the Blimp Award in the category of Favorite TV Actor at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards. By the way, he won this award 3 times. In 2005, Drake released his debut album, Telegraph, which included his own songs. Drake Bell had a leading role in Superhero Movie in 2008 and took part in a comedy called College. In 2015, Drake was on a concert tour in Mexico, and the tickets sold out almost as soon as the sale appeared online. In 2017, Bell appeared in Bad Kids of Crestview Academy and released an EP called Honest.

Josh Peck — Josh in Drake and Josh

In 2006, Drake Bell and Josh performed in their own TV movie called Drake & Josh Go Hollywood, and in 2007, they appeared in a sequel called Drake & Josh: Really Big Shrimp. Josh also directed his friend Drake Bell’s music video for the title song to Drake & Josh, “Found a Way.” In 2011, Peck had a cameo in Victorious. He starred in Red Dawn, which was based on the 1984 film of the same name. In 2015, Peck got a leading role in the comedy series, Grandfathered, and he appeared in the FOX series Pitch, which was canceled after one season in 2016.

Casey Simpson — Ricky in Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, & Dawn

Casey starred on Frank TV when he was 3 years old, and he was nominated for a Kids’ Choice Award in 2016 and 2017. Casey also featured in a Demi Moore Lifetime movie called Five. He has over 7 million fans on musical.ly under the account caseysimpson and is an award-nominated actor and singer. He also plays the piano and raps.

Thomas Kuc — Hudson in Game Shakers

Thomas Kuc is a Brazilian actor. He is multilingual, speaking Polish, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, and English. In 2015, Thomas had roles in Game Shakers and The Diabolical.

Jace Norman — Henry in Henry Danger

Jace Lee Norman got his first agent when he was 12 years old and started his career in 2012 in Disney’s TV series Jessie. In 2013, he worked alongside Jack Griffo in The Thundermans, and he got a role in the comedy television film Splitting Adam in 2015. In 2016, he appeared in the TV movie Rufus.

Kendall Schmidt — Kendall in Big Time Rush

Kendall Francis Schmidt started his acting career when he was 5, in a TV commercial for Chex. At the age of 9, Haley Joel Osment hired him to be his stand-in and body double in the Steven Spielberg film A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Spielberg and the cast surprised Kendall with a birthday cake decorated with Star Wars figures on his birthday. In 2010, the Big Time Rush team’s debut album, BTR, was released. Kendall participated in lots of TV shows and on the big screen in shows such as ER, MADtv, Frasier, Phil of the Future, Minority Report, and According to Spencer.

James Maslow — James in Big Time Rush

In 2008, James David Maslow debuted as an actor in an episode of the Nickelodeon show iCarly, and he also participated in @urFRENZ. In 2012, he starred in an episode of the sitcom See Dad Run. 2 years later, Maslow got a leading role in the Lifetime TV movie Seeds of Yesterday. In 2017, he appeared in the independent film 48 Hours to Live and played a leading role in It Happened One Valentine’s.

Carlos PenaVega — Carlos in Big Time Rush

The beginning of Carlos Roberto PenaVega’s career saw him appearing in ER when he was 10. He then appeared in Judging Amy, Summerland, and Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide. PenaVega also appeared in TV commercials for the Super Soaker water gun, and his photo was even on the toy’s packaging. In 2014, Carlos participated in a children’s game show called Webheads. The following year, he appeared in Dancing with the Stars, The Thundermans, The Penguins of Madagascar, and Instant Mom. Since 2017, Carlos has been starring in the comedy-drama series Life Sentence.

Melissa Joan Hart — Sabrina in Sabrina, The Teenage Witch

In 1999, Melissa made her directorial debut in an episode of the Disney Channel series So Weird, in which her sister Emily was invited to take part. In 2001, Hart directed an episode of Nickelodeon’s Taina. She also directed 6 episodes of Sabrina. In 2005, she directed her first movie, Mute, with her sister in a leading role. Melissa participated in Dancing With the Stars in 2009. One year later, she started filming Melissa & Joey, and Hart played a leading role in the drama God’s Not Dead 2 in 2016.

Emma Roberts — Addie Singer in Unfabulous

After starring in Unfabulous, Emma released her debut studio album, Unfabulous and More, in 2005. Emma then starred in plenty of films, such as Nancy Drew (2007), Wild Child (2008), The Winning Season (2009), Valentine’s Day (2010), Scream 4 (2011), We’re the Millers (2013), and many others. In 2007, Emma won a ShoWest Award in the Female Star of Tomorrow category and a Young Artist Award in the category of Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Aquamarine (2006). This year, Emma Roberts is going to play leading roles in Billionaire Boys Club and Little Italy.

Who is your favorite Nickelodeon star and why? Tell us your stories, and show us your favorites in the comments!

Preview photo credit Nickelodeon Productions, drakebell / Instagram