Miranda Cosgrove Urges Parents of Child Actors to Be 'Really Tough': 'Know When to Pull Your Kid Out' (Exclusive) Jack SmartSeptember 11, 2025 at 1:07 AM 0 Noam Galai/Getty Miranda Cosgrove in 2024 Miranda Cosgrove speaks to PEOPLE exclusively in this week's issue about her experience as a former ch...
- - Miranda Cosgrove Urges Parents of Child Actors to Be 'Really Tough': 'Know When to Pull Your Kid Out' (Exclusive)
Jack SmartSeptember 11, 2025 at 1:07 AM
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Miranda Cosgrove in 2024 -
Miranda Cosgrove speaks to PEOPLE exclusively in this week's issue about her experience as a former child star
Acting is a "really strange" profession for kids, the iCarly star says, recalling her time growing up in the spotlight
Parents of kids who want to act should "be ready for it to get very complicated," she advises
Miranda Cosgrove has plenty of expertise to share when it comes to child actors and their parents.
The former child star broke out in 2003's School of Rock and jumped from supporter in Nickelodeon's Drake & Josh to lead — and household name — in the hit iCarly. Now 32, Cosgrove knows what she's talking about when she calls her profession "an adult job in an adult world." When "a kid's in it," she adds, "that makes it really strange."
The star of Netflix's Wrong Paris was 14 years old when she booked the role of internet personality Carly Shay and saw her life change overnight. Just one example: "I started doing homeschooling, which I remember I was kind of bummed about because I really liked school," she tells PEOPLE.
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Nathan Kress and Miranda Cosgrove on 'iCarly'
Costars Nathan Kress and Jennette McCurdy became "family to me because we grew up together," Cosgrove recalls. Navigating the pressures of "people all of a sudden knowing who we were" could often feel like "so much at once."
Throughout it all, Cosgrove's parents, dad Tom and mom Chris, supported the California native — without pressuring her into anything she didn't want to do.
Her advice to mothers and fathers in a similar position? "Really make sure you're protecting your kids," says Cosgrove. "I would just say for somebody that if their kid is really, genuinely dying to do it, be ready for it to get very complicated. And you just have to be really tough and know when to pull your kid out of situations."
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Chris Cosgrove and Miranda Cosgrove in 2008
Unlike McCurdy, 33, Cosgrove's parents did not become involved in her career to the point of managing it. "My mom was never my manager because I think that just might've put a real strain on our relationship," she explains. McCurdy detailed the pressures of child stardom and alleged abuse from her mother in her hit 2022 memoir, I'm Glad My Mom Died, written after she stepped back from acting.
"So many kids end up acting since their parents wanted them to do it, and I think that's where it gets really messy and complicated," says Cosgrove. "Because then it's way more about the parent than it is the child. And I really don't like that. I don't think it's fair at all."
When Paramount+ revived iCarly for a three-season run starting in 2021, McCurdy elected not to join Cosgrove and their returning costars, Kress and Jerry Trainor.
For Cosgrove, sharing the screen with actress Jaidyn Triplett marked her "first time working on set with a child" as an adult — and proved to be an "eye-opening" experience that reminded her of the importance of letting kids follow their passions. "Jaidyn is a person [who] loves acting more than anything and wants to act," she says.
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Miranda Cosgrove and Tom Cosgrove circa 1996
Looking back, does Cosgrove have any regrets about how she navigated growing up in the spotlight? Other than a few fashion faux pas, not really. "I used to be really embarrassed of outfits I wore a long time ago, and the fact that they're on the internet and people can see them at any moment," she admits.
"Now that I'm older, I don't feel that way as much. I feel like it's kind of cute and funny," Cosgrove continues, adding, "It definitely took a while to get there for sure. I feel like everybody has that struggle."
Cosgrove is the star and executive producer of the rom-com The Wrong Paris, premiering Friday, Sept. 12 on Netflix.
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