Josie Loren Lopez (born March 19, 1987), professionally known as Josie Loren, is an American actress.^[1] She is best known for her role as Kaylie Cruz on the television drama series Make It or Break It.

Personal life[link]

Loren was born in Miami, Florida, and is of Cuban descent. Before she went to college, she used to cheer for an all-star cheerleading team in Miami called Top Gun All Stars.^[2] She studied at UCLA and is the daughter of Mercy Lopez, a middle school teacher at ZGMS.^[3] She attended high school at New World School of the Arts in Miami where she studied stage acting. In college she is studying Mass Media Communication and getting a minor in Spanish. She has one older sister and two brothers. Her older brother, Javier Loren, is a Harvard University graduate and a commercial litigator in Miami. In 2010, she was voted one of the 50 Most Sexiest Singles by OK! magazine.^[4]

Career[link]

Josie Loren played the character Holly on Hannah Montana, working with the teen sensation Miley Cyrus on the episode “People Who Use People.” Determined to make it big in show business, Loren then took on a role in Medium and later appeared on two episodes of the Nickelodeon series Drake & Josh as Maria. In 2007, Loren was cast on the Disney series Cory in the House, playing the character Jessica on the episode “Get Smarter.”

Her next project was The Bill Engvall Show, which led her to be chosen for a role in the short comedy Hardly Married, written and directed by Diego Nunez. She followed it up with Christmas in Paradise, and then with 2008’s comic drama This Is Not a Test. She starred alongside Hill Harper, Robinne Lee, and Tom Arnold. Loren then obtained further popularity with a role in the hit film, 17 Again. The big screen comedy was directed by Burr Steers, and starred Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, and Michelle Trachtenberg. In 2009, Loren was cast in the Disney TV movie Hatching Pete. Later that year, she appeared in a starring role on the ABC Family series Make It or Break It, a program which follows the adventures of a group of gymnasts hoping to make it to the Olympics.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Josie Loren at the Internet Movie Database
• Josie Loren on Facebook

Jennette McCurdy
McCurdy at the 2010 Kids' Choice Awards
Background information
Birth name	Jennette Michelle Faye McCurdy
Born	(1992-06-26) June 26, 1992 (age 20)
Origin	Garden Grove, California, U.S.
Genres	Country, country pop
Occupations	Actress, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	2000–present (actress) 2008–present (singer)
Labels	Your Tyme, Capitol Records Nashville
Website	jennettemccurdy.com

Jennette Michelle Faye McCurdy^[1] (born June 26, 1992)^[1] is an American film and television actress and country pop singer-songwriter. She is best known for her role as Sam Puckett on the Nickelodeon sitcom iCarly. She has also appeared in a number of notable television series, including Victorious, Zoey 101, True Jackson, VP, Malcolm in the Middle, and Lincoln Heights.

Early life[link]

McCurdy was born in Long Beach, California, raised in Garden Grove, California,^[2] and has three older brothers: Marcus, Scott, and Dustin. She gained interest in acting after watching Harrison Ford in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope right after her mother recovered from breast cancer.^[3]

Career[link]

Acting[link]

McCurdy started her acting career in 2000 at the age of eight on MADtv.^[4] Since then she appeared in several television series, including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Malcolm in the Middle, Lincoln Heights, Will & Grace, Penguins of Madagascar, Zoey 101, True Jackson, VP, Law and Order SVU, Medium, Judging Amy, The Inside, Karen Sisco, Over There and Close to Home. In 2003, she had the chance to act with her inspiration, Harrison Ford in the movie Hollywood Homicide. In 2005, she was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Television Series – Guest Starring Young Actress for her performance in Strong Medicine as Hailey Campos. She has also appeared in several commercials such as one for Sprint and another commercial for crossing the road safely.

Since 2007, she has a starring role in the Nickelodeon TV series iCarly opposite Miranda Cosgrove, Nathan Kress and Jerry Trainor, as one of Carly Shay's best friends Sam Puckett. In 2008 she was nominated for a Young Artist Award for her work on iCarly, and for her performance as Dory Sorenson in the TV movie The Last Day of Summer. She was nominated for a 2009 Teen Choice Award, in the Favorite TV Sidekick category for her work on iCarly. She also was cast to the role of Bertha in Fred: The Movie, a movie based on a YouTube series about Fred Figglehorn.

On December 1, 2011, she signed into United Talent Agency's cast of actors and performers for film, TV, music and other areas, to a deal starring her in a pilot vehicle. She was previously with Creative Artists Agency and Larry Galper.^[5]

Music[link]

McCurdy at the 62nd Annual Mother Goose Parade in San Diego County, California in November 2008

In June 2008, McCurdy announced on her official web site that she was working on her debut album. The first single, "So Close" was released on March 10, 2009.^[6] The second single, "Homeless Heart", was released on May 19.^[7] The song was released in honor of McCurdy's recently deceased friend Cody Waters, who died at the age of 9 from brain cancer, and 20% of the proceeds were donated to the Cody Waters Foundation.^[8] She met Cody Waters through St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In mid-2009, McCurdy signed with country music label Capitol Records Nashville.^[9]

On April 16, 2010, samples of select songs from McCurdy's upcoming debut country album were released online. The song clips were released in order for fans to vote for which one they believed should be McCurdy's first single.^[10] "Not That Far Away" received the most votes, and was released to country radio on May 24, 2010 and iTunes shortly after on June 1.^{[citation needed]}

Capitol Nashville released an EP on August 17, 2010 which included "Not That Far Away" and four new songs, "Stronger", "Put Your Arms Around Someone", and "Break Your Heart". The iTunes version included "Me with You" as an bonus track. "Stronger" was later included on Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 35, released on August 31, 2010.^[11]

McCurdy's second single, "Generation Love", was released as a digital download on March 22, 2011,^[12] followed by its release to radio April 25, 2011.^[13] Capitol Nashville released McCurdy's self-named extended play on February 8, 2012^[14] at clothing retailer Justice.^[15] The album will be released to iTunes at a later date.^[15]

Philanthropy[link]

In addition to supporting the Cody Waters Foundation, McCurdy was active in campaigns such as stopping child soldiers (she has been involved with the Invisible Children Inc. group)^[16] and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. McCurdy did a PSA for Safe Kids USA which is aired on Nickelodeon and TeenNick.

McCurdy currently serves as a StarPower Ambassador for Starlight Children’s Foundation, encouraging other young people to commit their time, energy and resources to help other kids and working with Starlight to brighten the lives of seriously ill children.^[17]

Personal life[link]

McCurdy composed an article titled, "Off-Camera, My Mom's Fight With Cancer", that was published in the Wall Street Journal on June 11, 2011. It describes in detail, her mother Debra's on-going battle with cancer and how her family is coping with the situation. The article also features tips from McCurdy on living with such a situation.^[18]

Discography[link]

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Music videos

Filmography[link]

Film

Television

Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jennette McCurdy

• Official website
• Jennette McCurdy at the Internet Movie Database

Victoria Justice
Background information
Born	(1993-02-19) February 19, 1993 (age 19) Hollywood, Florida, U.S.
Genres	Electropop, pop, dance pop
Occupations	Actress, singer-songwriter, dancer
Instruments	Vocals, piano
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Columbia Records Sony Music Entertainment
Website	VictoriaJustice.net

Victoria Justice (born February 19, 1993) is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and dancer. She debuted as an actress at the age of 10 and has since appeared in several films and television series including the Nickelodeon series Zoey 101 and Victorious. She has made appearances in several theatrical releases, including Unknown as well as the 2006 thriller The Garden. She has appeared in several Nickelodeon series, including True Jackson, VP, The Troop, The Penguins of Madagascar and iCarly, as well as on the Nickelodeon game show BrainSurge as a contestant. In 2010 she starred in the Nickelodeon film The Boy Who Cried Werewolf.

Aside from acting, Justice is involved in her musical career. She has performed several songs for the soundtrack to the Nickelodeon musical Spectacular!, in which she starred. She has recorded a number of songs for the Victorious series. Justice has announced the release of her debut album, which is expected to be released sometime during 2012.

Early life[link]

Victoria Justice was born on February 19, 1993, in Hollywood, Florida, to Serene and Zack Justice.^[1][2] Her mother is Puerto Rican and her father is of English, German, and Irish descent. She first developed an interest in acting when she was 8 years old after watching a children's commercial. She and her family relocated to Hollywood, California, in 2003. In 2005, she auditioned and was accepted into the musical theatre program at Los Angeles' renowned Performing Arts Magnet school. Her family moved from Hollywood, Florida, to Los Angeles when she was 11 after Justice had stated she wanted to be a part of filming commercials as well as television series and films. Justice has done commercials for companies such as Ralph Lauren, Gap and Guess. She appeared in national commercials for Mervyn's, Peanut Butter Toast Crunch and Ovaltine.^[3]

Career[link]

[edit] 2003–09: Beginnings and Zoey 101

Justice began her acting career when she was 10 years old, when she made a guest appearance on the Gilmore Girls episode "The Hobbit, the Sofa and Digger Stiles". Justice portrayed Jill #2 in a walk-on role.^[4] After her appearance in the series, her family moved to Los Angeles, when Justice stated she wanted a career in acting. The following year, Justice guest starred on the second episode of the Disney channel series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, in which she plays a young pageant contestant named Rebecca. Later, Justice was awarded a role in the 2005 drama-thriller Mary. Justice portrayed the role of Stella, a young girl who begins seeing visions of Mary Magdalene. After informing her family of this, they take her to see a psychiatrist, who places her on medication. Later that night, when Mary comes back, Stella takes her medicine and ignores her. This leads Mary to give Stella's sister the task instead.^[5] The film debuted at 2005 Venice Film Festival, before being showed at several other Festivals, including the 2005 Toronto Film Festival, Deauville Film Festival and San Sebastián International Film Festival.

During the same year, Justice was awarded a main cast role in the Nickelodeon series Zoey 101 as Lola Martinez, a new student who is also an aspiring actress.^[6][7] When she found out she had earned the role, she said "I was extremely happy; I was bouncing up and down and screaming. That was a really great moment."^[8] The season 2 episode that introduced Justice's character debuted on September 11, 2005. Justice also had roles in two other films that year. She had a cameo appearance in the R-rated film When Do We Eat?, as well as earning the role of Rose in the Hallmark television film Silver Bells, the following of which has become a Hallmark Hall of Fame film. In 2006, while filming episodes for Zoey 101, Justice made a guest appearance on an episode of the series Everwood, in the episode "Enjoy the Ride". Justice made her theatrical film debut that year, when she was given a cameo role in the film Unknown. The film was a financial failure, and received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently has a 39% approval rate, and only has a 44% approval rate on metacritic.^[9][10]

2006 also saw Justice in her first major theatrical role, when she was awarded the supporting role of Holly in the thriller film The Garden. The film was met with negative reviews from critics.^[11] 2007 and 2008 saw Justice focusing on the third and fourth seasons of Zoey 101, which was coming to a close. Justice released a promotional single midway through 2007, while she was still filming Zoey 101. The song was a cover of the Vanessa Carlton song, "A Thousand Miles".^[12] When being interviewed in 2010 about her musical career, Justice has stated "My family could always tell, ever since I was little, that [music is] something that's always come natural to me and that I've always wanted to do. It's something that's just been in my blood. Ever since I was little, I was taking tap classes, jazz classes, hip-hop classes, acting classes. I just always wanted to cultivate that and do that more. But, the moment where I actually realized, "Woah, this is something that I can actually do for the rest of my life and maybe be successful at," was actually the pilot of Victorious when I did the performance number for the first time. I just remember standing on stage and seeing all these people looking at me and I was nervous. And then, the music started and I started dancing around and really feeling it and having an amazing time, and that's when it clicked for me that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life."^[13] May 2, 2008, saw the airing of the final episode of the series.

In 2009, she announced plans to guest star on an episode of Nickelodeon's series The Naked Brothers Band. The TV special, titled Valentine Dream Date featured Justice portraying herself.^[14] Justice made no plans of going back into the recording studio until 2009, when she starred in the Nickelodeon musical, Spectacular!. Justice's character performs three songs during the course of the film. Justice starred alongside Nolan Funk and Simon Curtis in the musical film, which aired on Nickelodeon on February 16, 2009.^[15][16] The film has become one of Nickelodeon's most popular movies, attracting an audience 3.7 million viewers on its premiere night.^[17] The film received a generally positive review from several critics, holding a 76% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes as of 2011.^[18]

After the success of The Naked Brothers Band special in which Justice guest starred, producers insisted on placing her in yet another episode. The episode, titled "The Premiere", debuted on April 11, 2009. Shortly afterward, it was announced that Victoria Justice would be guest starring on a special episode of the hit television series iCarly.^[19] The episode, which aired on August 8, 2009, saw Justice portraying ring fighter Shelby Marx. September 26 saw the release of the True Jackson, VP episode "True Crush", which featured an appearance by Justice. On its original airdate, the show received 3.6 million viewers.^[20] On November 30 Justice appeared as herself on the latest Nickelodeon show, called BrainSurge. The game show saw Justice competing as a celebrity contestant as part of a series special. Justice announced that year that she would be working on a thriller film, set for theatrical release. It was later announced the film would feature Dylan Sprouse and Cole Sprouse.^[21] Unlike initial plans of a theatrical release, the film had a limited preview release on December 12, 2009, and was returned to post production. Despite this, the film's worldwide release has been canceled.^[22] Justice guest-starred on the Nickelodeon television series, The Troop, in which she portrays an Eris Fairy.

[edit] 2010–present: Victorious and other projects

Justice confirmed that she would be receiving her own musical show on Nickelodeon, explaining the show's genesis thus: "I was on Zoey 101. When I was 12, Dan Schneider cast me as a new character, Lola Martinez. From there, I worked with him for three years, on three seasons of Zoey 101. And, after that, Dan found out that I could also sing and dance as well as act, so he thought it would be really cool to create a show for me on Nickelodeon, called Victorious."^[13] The pilot for the show, which was presented as a special for the series, debuted on March 27, 2010, and received 5.7 million views, making it the highest rated premiere for a live-action Nickelodeon series.^[23] The original broadcast of this episode was an extended cut, all subsequent airings had various scenes and lines were removed to conform to its time-slot.

Justice performing in 2011

Justice returned to the recording studio to record music for the series in 2010. She recorded the series first featured song, which also serves as the theme song, titled "Make It Shine". The single had little success charting in the U.S., however it did manage to reach 16 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 singles chart. Several other songs have been featured in the series, including "You're the Reason", "Finally Falling", "Beggin' on Your Knees","Best Friend's Brother" and "Tell Me That You Love Me". Justice performed her third official single, "Freak the Freak Out", during the Victorious special episode of the same name.^[24] Justice later guest-starred on the animated series The Penguins of Madagascar, voicing the character of Stacy in the episode "Badger Pride". Justice starred in the 2010 Nickelodeon television movie The Boy Who Cried Werewolf, playing Jordan Sands, a girl who is transformed into a werewolf following her move to a creepy manor.^[25] The film was a major success for the network, drawing in 5.8 million viewers for the premiere.^[26] The film received generally positive reviews from critics. The film currently holds a 69% approval rate on Rotten Tomatoes based on 24 reviews.^[27] In 2011, the cast of iCarly, along with the cast of Victorious starred in a crossover episode, titled iParty with Victorious. This marked the second time Justice has guest starred for iCarly, first as Shelby Marx.

In a 2010 interview with the Associated Press, she stated that she is recording an album but will take her time with the process, rather than rush it, and write the songs on the album. But, she is very excited waiting for it.^[28] In March 2011 The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Justice had landed the lead role in the coming of age comedy Fun Size (set for release in October 2012). Justice will play the part of Wren and the movie will also feature stars such as Johnny Knoxville, Chelsea Handler and Josh Pence.^[29] She has recently released onto iTunes a song from Victorious called "Countdown," released on February 18, 2012. It was co-recorded with her co-star Leon Thomas III. The latest single she has released was on Tuesday, February 28, 2012, with Take A Hint, being released to iTunes on March 3, 2012. This was her first duet with Victorious co-star Elizabeth Gillies.^[30]

Other endeavors[link]

Philanthropy[link]

Justice has taken part in a few charity events. She has supported charities such as the United Nations Foundation, which benefits numerous causes such as AIDS, Children, Environment, Health, Human Rights and Peace.^[31] On September 30, 2010, Justice announced she would be joining the Charity Campaign Girl Up. When asked about joining, she stated "I’m so excited to become a Champion for Girl Up and to help make a difference for girls who aren’t given the same opportunities that most of us take for granted. I know that there are plenty of girls throughout the country who are just like me—ready and motivated to stand up for the rights and well-being of girls in the developing world. I am confident that, together, we will rise to the challenge." Justice joined Girl Up on September 30, 2010, for the campaign’s official launch in New York City and will go on to support the “Unite for Girls” tour, which travels to cities across the U.S. to activate and engage teens from coast to coast. She will have the chance to visit Girl Up-supported programs in developing countries to observe first-hand the impact they can have on girls and communities.^[32] During an interview with Seventeen magazine, Justice stated,

Filmography[link]

Discography[link]

Soundtracks[link]

Singles[link]

As featured artist[link]

Promotional singles[link]

Awards[link]

See also[link]

Puerto Rico portal

• List of Puerto Ricans

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Victoria Justice

• Official website
• Victoria Justice at the Internet Movie Database