Why isn't Sam in the iCarly reboot?

Actress Jennette McCurdy, known for her role as Sam Puckett on the hit Nickelodeon series, revealed that she has quit acting and is "embarrassed" by the parts she played in the past, including her starring role on iCarly.

On a recent episode of her podcast, Empty Inside, McCurdy said that she made the decision to quit acting several years ago because she never really wanted to do it in the first place. The 28-year-old shared that her mother thrust her into a career at a young age and that she was the main financial support for her family.

“I'm so ashamed of the parts I've done in the past. I resent my career in a lot of ways," she admitted. “I feel so unfulfilled by the roles that I played and felt like it was the most cheesy, embarrassing. I did the shows that I was on from like 13 to 21, and by 15, I was already embarrassed.”

You can listen to McCurdy’s full podcast episode, below.

News of McCurdy’s decision to take a break from her acting career, and her ill feelings towards the iconic roles she has played, comes as iCarly prepares for its return via Paramount+. It has been confirmed that the series will feature members of the original cast, including Miranda Cosgrove, Nathan Kress and Jerry Trainor.

In a recent episode of Kress' podcast, RadioActive Dads, the actor addressed McCurdy’s absence from the reboot and confirmed that there is no bad blood between her and the cast.

“The only thing I know for sure is it’s not anything nefarious. It’s not some[thing] weird, [like] she’s angry about something or we’re angry at her about something… it’s all good-natured stuff,” Kress assured. “There’s not some kind of grand conspiracy, there’s nothing for people to find on the internet, there are no clues in tweets. It’s not anything like that.”

“I think it’s just a personal decision and where she’s at and what she wants to do," he said. “I think her focus has generally been on content creation, doing like her podcast that’s doing really well and writing, directing, producing. It seems like that’s just where her focus is. And I think — this is speculating too — but because she already did a spin-off series doing Sam & Cat, she might also feel like she got 60, 70 more episodes than we did as our characters and maybe she just feels like her character is complete."

On Saturday (Feb. 27), Paramount+ released the first iCarly reboot teaser starring Cosgrove, Kress and Trainor.

The reboot series will reportedly follow the three returning characters as they navigate high school during the "modern TikTok era of social engagement." Two new characters will also be introduced, including a new best friend and roommate for Carly along with Freddie's social media-obsessed step-daughter.

A release date has not yet been set for the iCarly revival on Paramount+.

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