10 TV Shows That Made Actors QUIT The Industry
3. Sam & Cat - Jeanette McCurdy
In the case of Jennette McCurdy, her stint on iCarly spin-off Sam & Cat wasn't her final acting gig, but it is the one which caused her to realise she didn't care much for acting anymore, leading her to quit the industry a few years later in 2018.
In an interview last year, McCurdy opened up about her time working on various Nickelodeon shows such as Sam & Cat, stating that she was effectively pushed into acting at a young age by her mother, and always found it "difficult."
Her mother passed away in 2013 and Sam & Cat ended the next year, after which McCurdy only acted sporadically in small roles, before finally leaving screen acting altogether.
She said that her decision stemmed from an embarrassment over the bulk of her career, primarily working on Nickelodeon shows, the last of which was Sam & Cat:
"My experience with acting is, I'm so ashamed of the parts I've done in the past... I resent my career in a lot of ways. 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. My friends at 15, they're not like, 'Oh, cool, you're on this Nickelodeon show.' It was embarrassing. And I imagine there's a very different experience to be had with acting if you're proud of your roles, and if you feel fulfilled by them."
Since giving up TV and film work, McCurdy has instead written and directed short films and also performed a one-woman stage show about her mother, "I'm Glad My Mom Died," which she also adapted into a memoir.