Exclusive: Jennette McCurdy Chats Meeting Her Idol!

I had the chance to talk to Jennette McCurdy yesterday and she is the biggest sweetheart! She stared some fun stories about her most embarrassing moments and getting to meet her idol, Reese Witherspoon last week.

JC: I love your new single, So Close! Did you write it?
Jennette: Yeah, I actually co-wrote it with two amazing writers and friends of mine. Ty Stevens and Joy Williams. It came from a personal experience so I hope everybody else can find a personal experience they can relate with.

JC: Tell me about other songs on the album.
Jennette: Somebody actually called my single “power country”, so I think that was a really big compliment and I hope the rest of the album can live up to that! That’s kind of what we’re going with for all the different songs. We want to have a pop country feel with a rock beat in the background. So I hope that people who like rock will like it, people who like country will like it, people who like pop will like it or any genre will like it. I hope everybody can find something.

JC: How did you get started acting?
Jennette: I actually was inspired by Star Wars, the original movies. Harrison Ford was my inspiration. My mom was sick with breast cancer and my three older brothers and myself would always watch the original Star Wars movie, and we got a lot of inspiration from that. Especially from ‘May the force be with you’! We would say “The force is with Mommy, she’s going to get better.”

So then when she did get better and Episode 1 came to the big screen, it was a huge family event, because it wasn’t just Star Wars, it was this thing that had brought us all really close together. As soon as it was over I turned to my mom and said, “Mommy I want to be in the movies!” I harassed her relentlessly for years before she actually took me seriously. She said “Oh my gosh, she’s not letting up!”

Strong: Have you always been interested in music as well?
Jennette: I’ve been working on it more recently, but I’ve actually always kind of had a passion for music and I’ve had a lot of inspiration from music. Just going up to auditions ever since I was really small, and for callbacks and things. I would always listen to a CD to pump me up for the audition. And depending on what the audition was I would listen to different kinds of music because music can put you in a different frame of mind. They really helped me to go through with acting. So it just seemed like a right fit.

JC: What’s your favorite part of playing Sam?
Jennette: People say I’m a lot like Sam and a lot different than Sam. I think I’m kind of wacky and crazy. I just don’t like pushing people down and slamming them into lockers and eating bacon all the time! I don’t know, probably the best thing is getting to do so many wacky, fun things! I think I have a great character that I get to do a lot with it. She allows for a lot of fun experiences.

JC: Tell me about Proving Ground: From the Adventures of Captain Redlocks.
Jennette: It’s actually in pre-production. It’s been in pre-production for a while. Hopefully it’ll get made some day!

JC: Who is your role model?
Jennette: Johnny Depp I love, for a male. And Reese Witherspoon, definitely for actresses. I just idolize her. Actually I had the honor of seeing her at her Monsters vs. Aliens premiere. She was so kind. I couldn’t believe it.

I’ve got to tell you this, it was amazing. I was staring off to the side and she was the last one to go into the theater. I thought, ‘Oh gosh, I want to ask her for an autograph so bad, I love her.’ I could hardly breathe, I was standing off to the side and debating whether I should go over and ask her for an autograph or what I should do. I didn’t want to be rude if she needed to get in to watch the movie. I was standing there basically, frozen stiff … a nervous wreck because Reese Witherspoon was standing ten feet away from me!

And then she just kind of looks over and she points. I look around and I’m the only one standing here so she must be pointing at me. I’m thinking ‘What’s wrong? What’s going on, why are you pointing?’ And then she comes over and says “Hey, I know you! You’re from iCarly, you’re Sam from iCarly!” I can’t even explain, I almost passed out!

She told me that her daughter watches iCarly all the time so she watches it all the time with her daughter. She told me that I was a great actress and very funny. I hugged her twice. I hugged her twice. It was just so amazing. Just talking about it sends shivers down my spine.

JC: I love watching your YouTube videos and reading your blog, do you have fun interacting with the fans?
Jennette: I have a blast! I always love meeting with people who watch the show and enjoy my work. I love meeting with them and just talking to them. When you’re acting, you sort of get this connection with people and they feel like they know you. So this is a way for me to really know them back, so that it’s a full cycle relationship, not just one-sided. So they don’t just know me but I totally know them as well! So I just have a lot of fun with my Youtube videos. I also have Twitter, my Facebook fan site, and my website.

JC: What’s the strangest fan experience you’ve ever had?
Jennette: There have been some weird ones! Oh, there was this girl. I went to go see Revlon Run/Walk. I went there last year. There was this girl who came up to me and she goes, “I love your hair!” and she like touched my hair and caressed my head. She started smelling it and said “I’m your number one stalker.” I didn’t know what to do, I wanted to be polite but the fact that she used the word stalker instead of fan kind of scared me for a bit! I went from walking to jogging to running. She put her arm around me and was clinging to me. It was very interesting. My brother had to come over! I was kind of frightened for a couple of weeks to leave my house!

JC: What’s your most embarrassing moment?
Jennette: I have so many embarrassing moments I don’t really get embarrassed that easily anymore! On set, Jerry one time in the middle of a take, he always likes to scare me. I’m pretty gullible and when I get scared, I get scared all the way! I scream bloody murder and run off in the other direction.

So Jerry removed the backing from my locker in the school hallway set. So I open my locker to see what was inside because that was part of the scene. The backing was removed but I didn’t know because there was a black sheet there. I’m picking out my book and I’m getting ready to turn around. All of a sudden this hand pokes through Jerry’s face and his tongue sticking out and he’s screaming bloody murder. I was terrified, I screamed so loud. I went off the set, my heart was pounding, and couldn’t breathe. And then he scared me the whole rest of the week because he said ‘you’re never going to know if the backing is removed’. So then every take I would open the locker all tentatively.

JC: Do you have any celebrity crushes?
Jennette: Yeah, I do! Johnny Depp, Gavin DeGraw, and Jesse McCartney. Jesse McCartney is going to be at the Kids’ Choice Awards this week so that’s pretty intense for me!

JC: If you could send any message to the readers of Junior Celebs, what would you say?
Jennette: Be fierce!!!!! And smile. Smile a lot!

Image Credited to Newscom