All About Miranda iCarly Star

 

By Gopa Praturi
Sept. 20, 2009

 

At the age of 16, Miranda Cosgrove has been in the acting business for 13 years. This week an entire special issue of People magazine is devoted to the young star and her number one hit TV show iCarly.

Hundreds of fans lined up at the Bridgewater Commons Mall in New Jersey on Saturday to see her. They clutched copies of the magazine, titled “All About iCarly,” while waiting for an autograph.

“I feel really excited that I’m meeting the star of my favorite show,” said Natasha, a fan from Chatham, New Jersey. “I watch iCarly every day, and I used to watch Drake and Josh a lot, too.” Cosgrove starred as the precocious (and sometimes irritating) little sister on Drake and Josh before landing her own Nickelodeon hit.

In an interview with this Scholastic Kid Reporter, Cosgrove shared some of her secrets of success.

“I think acting is something that you would just naturally like,” she said. “When I was little, I loved to be in plays and I loved getting up in front of people. I always thought about how to make people laugh.”

Like the old joke about how to get to Carnegie Hall, Cosgrove says the way to a career in acting is practice, practice, practice.

“It helps you kind of get into it,” she said. “You can do it with your friends too.”

It may also help to have been born in the movie capital of the world, Los Angeles, California.

Cosgrove got her start at the age of three. Like the legends of Hollywood starlets of old, she was “discovered.” An agent saw her singing and dancing around a table in a restaurant and signed her to act in commercials.

Since then she has starred in TV shows like Smallville and Zoey 101 and in movies like Keeping Up With the Steins and School of Rock.

Of all of her gigs, Cosgrove thinks School of Rock was the most fun. \

“I really liked School of Rock because I was in a movie for the first time, and I got to stay in a hotel for five months…I really liked it,” she said.

Acting is not her only talent. Cosgrove is also a rising young pop singer. In fact, the song “Raining Sunshine” is featured in a new movie to be released this Friday: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Cosgrove is also about to release her first solo CD this fall, with all new music based on her personal life.

She shared her song writing technique with the Scholastic Kids Press Corps.

“I have a journal at my house, and if anything exciting happens, I’ll write it down,” she said. “And then when I go through writing sessions, I’ll pull it out and look through it.”

Her list of successes is long. She was recently nominated for a 2009 Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actress. Her show, iCarly, was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Program. The show also won a Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite Show in 2009. Also at this year’s Kid Choice Awards, Cosgrove won a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Series (comedy or drama).

Despite what looks like an incredibly busy professional life, Cosgrove still has to contend with school. In many respects, she’s no different than any other 16-year-old with a job: she does homework and likes to read.

“I really like To Kill a Mockingbird—it’s my favorite,” Cosgrove said. “I also like Romeo and Juliet. I’m reading Harry Potter right now. Oh, and don’t forget Twilight! Twilight is awesome!”

Wearing a bright blue shiny pullover shirt with a giant yellow smiley face, Cosgrove seemed like any other teen-ager at the mall on a weekend—except for one thing: the hundreds of squealing fans lined up waiting not-so-patiently to meet her.

 

Source: Scholastic News Online

 

Editor’s Note: Gopa Praturi is a member of the Scholastic Kids Press Corps.  Actress/singer Miranda Cosgrove with Scholastic Kid Reporter Gopa Praturi at Bridgewater Commons Mall in New Jersey on Saturday, September 12. (Photo Courtesy Brian Killan/Wire Image.com/Getty Images)

We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com