Miranda Cosgrove

Miranda Taylor Cosgrove (born May 14, 1993) is an American actress and singer.

Cosgrove's first television appearance was in 2001 when she provided the voice of young Lana Lang in the pilot episode of Smallville.

Thereafter, she made her acting debut as Summer Hathaway in the comedy film School of Rock (2003).

She made her film debut in School of Rock (2003), directed by Richard Linklater.

In the movie, she played Summer Hathaway, a young girl with great ambition and discipline who finds herself adjusting to the free-spirited nature of her new music teacher (Jack Black).

School of Rock was both a box office hit, grossing over $130 million worldwide, and a critical success, receiving a score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Cosgrove's acting in the film received praise, with David Ansen of Newsweek describing it as "spot on".

She cited the scene in which her character tries to sing as particularly difficult: "[I'd] been taking singing lessons for about five years, so getting to sing badly was new. The director kept saying, 'Try to sing even worse, Miranda,' so it was weird."

She is best known for playing Megan Parker on the sitcom Drake & Josh (2004–2007) and Carly Shay on the sitcom iCarly (2007–2012) and its revival series of the same name (2021–2023), the latter of which she executive produced.

In 2004, Cosgrove landed her first major role in a television series when she was cast in the Nickelodeon series Drake & Josh, alongside Drake Bell and Josh Peck.

In the series, she portrayed Megan Parker, the mischievous younger sister of the title characters.

In 2005, Cosgrove was awarded the role of Munch in the Cartoon Network film Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie.

In the film, Cosgrove portrays a female mouse who is rescued from a hawk by Junior and Flutter and who goes on to join them on their adventure.

Cosgrove also guest-starred on two episodes of the animated comedy, Lilo & Stitch: The Series.

She also received her second major role in a theatrical film when she cast alongside her Drake & Josh co-star Drake Bell in the comedy film Yours, Mine & Ours.

The film performed mildly at the box office.

Yours, Mine & Ours opened in third place, earning $17 million at the U.S. box office during its first weekend.

Cosgrove's third theatrical release, Keeping Up with the Steins, was released in 2006.

It received generally negative reviews from critics and performed poorly at the box office.

Cosgrove made guest appearances in a number of Nickelodeon series, the first of which was Zoey 101.

Cosgrove later guest starred on an episode of Unfabulous, which starred Emma Roberts.

Cosgrove was cast as the titular lead character in the sitcom iCarly, which premiered on September 8, 2007.

Cosgrove made her musical debut in 2008 with the titular soundtrack album for the series in which she performed four songs.

In 2009, she debuted her first extended play, About You Now.

She also voices Margo in the animated film series Despicable Me (2010–present).

Her debut studio album, Sparks Fly, was released in April 2010 to positive reviews from critics.

The album featured the single "Kissin U" which peaked at number 54 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold.

The extended play (EP) High Maintenance was released the following year.

To support both her album and EP, she embarked on the Dancing Crazy Tour.

Cosgrove was born in Los Angeles to Tom Cosgrove, who owns a dry-cleaning business, and Chris (née Casey), a homemaker.

She has said that she is of Irish, English, and French descent.

She is an only child and was homeschooled from sixth grade onwards.

She struggled with body image during childhood.

Before becoming an actress, she wanted to be a veterinarian.

At the age of three, she was discovered by a talent agent while singing and dancing at the Los Angeles restaurant Taste of L.A. Cosgrove says that when the agent approached her and her mother, she had "never really thought of being an actress" and "was lucky".

She then appeared in numerous television commercials for McDonald's and Mello Yello, and also modeled for various brands.

At the age of seven, she began auditioning for theater and television roles.

The highest-paid child actor of 2012, her accolades include four Kids' Choice Awards, two Young Artist Awards, and a nomination for a Daytime Emmy Award.

Cosgrove began her career at the age of seven, making several appearances in television commercials.

In addition to her Drake & Josh, iCarly and Despicable Me roles, she had leading roles in the films The Intruders (2015), 3022 (2019), and North Hollywood (2021), and hosts the CBS television show Mission Unstoppable with Miranda Cosgrove (2019–present).