Jeannette McCurdy felt pressure from her family and the industry
The former child actress has moved on from acting to pursue a career in directing and writing. On her podcast "Empty Inside," per CNN, Jennette McCurdy shared she felt "so unfulfilled by the roles that [she] played," adding that it "felt like it was the most...embarrassing thing."
She also revealed acting wasn't even her choice. "My mom put me in it when I was 6, and by...age 10 or 11 I was the main financial support for my family," McCurdy shared, adding, "my family didn't have a lot of money, and this was the way out."
The pressure of being in front of the camera was especially harmful to McCurdy, who revealed in a 2019 personal essay on HuffPost that she struggled with eating disorders from age 11, though eventually, she got the help she needed. It wasn't until her mother died that McCurdy felt she could leave acting, sharing, "With her death kind of died a lot of her ideas for my life" (via CNN).
Though we miss Sam on the iCarly reboot, we are so happy to know McCurdy is now able to find happiness on her own path.
