The Untold Story of Jennette McCurdy
A Rough Childhood
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Born June 26, 1992, Jennette Michelle Faye McCurdy grew up in Orange County, California. Her parents, Mark and Debra McCurdy, were a working class family living in a small house with Debra’s parents. Jennette, along with her three older brothers, were home-schooled and attended a Mormon church. When the actress was just 2 years old, Debra was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer.
Breaking into Television (2000-06)
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By the time she was 6 years old, Debra had decided Jennette was going to live out her own unrealized dream of being an actress. Debra got her daughter a meeting with talent agent Barbara Cameron, the mother of Candace Cameron Bure. She wasn’t interested at first but after some strong convincing from Debra and an agreement to start acting classes, she took Jennette on as a client. The young girl would later fail an audition for a Paula Abdul dance video, resulting in her mother forcing her to take 14 dance classes each week. Whether it was filling her up with Red Bull, or telling Jennette to gain sympathy from the casting director by talking about her mother’s cancer, Debra always had a hand in the process. In the year 2000, 8-year-old Jennette McCurdy was cast in her first role. She played a parody of Cassidy Gifford, daughter of Kathie Lee, for a “Mad TV” sketch. She was also cast in TV commercials as well as guest parts in popular television shows like “Malcolm in the Middle”, “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” She was regularly cast as a young girl going through harrowing circumstances. One of her skills was crying on cue, an impressive feat for actors of any age. However, in one particular audition for “Without a Trace,” she wasn’t able to cry when needed. Feeling upset, she told her mom she wanted to quit acting, which led to Debra making a scene, claiming their family would lose their golden opportunity. Needless to say, quitting was not an option, and Jennette quickly swallowed down her own unhappiness to please her mother. Debra was known to have outbursts, often violent ones, not only toward Jennette but to her sons and husband as well.
An Unhealthy Rise to Fame (2007-12)
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When Jennette was 11-years-old, she began to develop physically. In an effort to delay puberty, and keep her looking young enough for roles, her mother put her on a restrictive diet. Debra monitored her weight, measuring her body size and weighing her every week. But, Jennette took to weighing herself several times a day. This was the beginning of her anorexia as well as her obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) behavior. Debra struggled with her mental issues, along with an emotionally and verbally abusive mother. Later, when Jennette underwent therapy as an adult, she considered that her mother might’ve had borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder. She likened her mother’s years of mistreatment to Munchausen by proxy, though Debra didn’t want her daughter to be ill. In fact, Jennette was forced to work while she was sick, even when she caught strep throat six times over the course of one year. At the age of 13, everything changed for Jennette when she won a leading role as sarcastic Sam Puckett on the Nickelodeon TV series “iCarly.” A large part of Sam’s identity revolved around excessive eating, something McCurdy found extremely difficult. McCurdy continued to struggle with disordered eating well into her teens. At 14, she was so small that she still had to use a booster seat in the car. At 16, Jennette got her period, which triggered her anxieties about aging and caused her to relapse back into disordered eating. Debra remained in control of her daughter’s body, but not just with eating. She insisted on giving Jennette showers until she was 17, sometimes with one of her older brothers. Debra also performed invasive “exams” on Jennette, claiming that she was checking for cancer. No one knew what Jennette was going through at home, not even her close friend and co-star Miranda Cosgrove. Debra didn’t approve of their friendship since, according to Debra, Miranda “didn’t believe in God.” During the 2007 writer’s strike, Debra decided her daughter needed to get into music like other teen stars. When production on “iCarly” resumed, Jennette split her time between L.A. – filming during the week – and Nashville – recording music on the weekends. She was planning a tour when her mother learned that the cancer had returned and spread throughout her body. Debra didn’t accompany her on the tour but would not let her cancel. When she came back, Debra made sure to point out Jennette’s weight gain. By 2012, she was over the whole music endeavor.
“The Creator”
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McCurdy had multiple encounters with the show’s creator Dan Schneider, who she calls the Creator in her memoir. The TV producer allegedly encouraged her to drink alcohol at 18 and gave her an unwanted shoulder massage. He was also known to be controlling, verbally attacking the cast and crew on his shows. In a season 2 episode of “iCarly”, McCurdy had her first ever kiss on camera with Nathan Kress, who played Freddie. Schneider made the young actress reshoot the scene several times, yelling and demanding various adjustments. Schneider promised her a spin-off series titled, “Just Puckett.” However, she would ultimately share the spotlight with another young actress.
Grief & Scandal (2013-14)
After six seasons, “iCarly” ended in November 2012. “Sam & Cat” premiered on June 8, 2013. The network had ordered 20 episodes but doubled when the show pulled in high ratings. Jennette has admitted to feelings of jealousy and resentment toward co-star Ariana Grande. While Jennette had to turn down film projects due to the show, the writers accommodated Grande’s busy schedule. And though she was told early on that she’d have the chance to direct an episode, it never happened. During this time, Debra went back into the hospital. She would pass on September 20, 2013, when Jennette was just 21. Her grief led to alcoholism, binge eating, and bulimia, which she would struggle with for years. After her mom’s death, she learned that Mark McCurdy was actually not her biological father. She would also briefly date NBA star Andre Drummond and, in March 2014, had private photos of her leaked. A month later, “Sam & Cat” was put on hiatus. Upon the series’ official cancellation in July 2014, Nickelodeon offered McCurdy $300,000. The deal was that she couldn’t talk about any negative experiences she had on-set. Luckily, the actress refused what felt to her like “hush money”.
Post-Nickelodeon Projects & Therapy (2015-19)
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In August of 2014, McCurdy wrote, produced, and starred in her own web series, “What's Next for Sarah?”, inspired by her own experiences in the industry. In 2015, she was cast in Netflix’s sci-fi thriller “Between.” The series lasted just two seasons but, by that time, McCurdy was ready to leave her acting career behind. In 2017, she made the decision to quit acting in order to focus on writing, her mental health and recovery. She made her directorial debut in 2018 with her short film “Kenny.”
Jennette McCurdy Today (2019-)
In 2020, Jennette turned a series of essays into a one-woman show called “I’m Glad My Mom Died.” She performed in Los Angeles and New York City until the COVID-19 pandemic forced her to take a break. That same year, she started “Empty Inside,” an interview podcast. Around the same time, she declined to reprise her role as Sam for the 2021 “iCarly” revival, because she associated her time on the show with her years of trauma. Since 2011, Jennette has written essays for the Wall Street Journal and the Huffington Post, detailing child stars in the industry, her mother’s battle with cancer, and her years of disordered eating. Now in 2022, at 30-years-old, Jennette McCurdy has published her memoir based on her previous stage show of the same name. The provocative title alone has made headlines, as has the dark truth behind her years as a Nickelodeon star.
