The iCarly cast revealed what it was like making season two, the possibility of an iCarly movie, and if Carly and Freddie will start dating in their exclusive interview with AfterBuzz TV.
Fans don’t have to wait any longer to find out the futures of Carly, Freddie, Spencer, and the gang because season two of iCarly is out now on Paramount+, and this season is more jam-packed than ever before! Season two picks up in the middle of Carly’s relationship drama and answers the question everyone has been asking: is there a future for Carly and Freddie?
And as if season one wasn’t already complete with the return of some of our favorite guest stars, even more, will be making a comeback in the new season: including Josh Peck! (Cue the Megan memes.)
Nathan Kress and Jerry Trainor joined AfterBuzz TV, along with newcomers Laci Mosely (Harper) and Jaidyn Triplett (Millicent), to chat all things about the new season, from what happens in front of the camera to what goes on behind the scenes:
AFTERBUZZ: Laci, iCarly is now dealing with a lot more current issues around race and sexuality and gender, and your character Harper has been at the center of a lot of those conversations. What has the response been like from fans?
LACI: I would say that the response from fans has been overwhelmingly positive. You know, we like to say that the fans in the iCarly universe, the real fans are loving, caring, people who love goofy stuff and love to have a good time. And so the response from them has been super positive about Harper’s character, and I definitely felt more relaxed in the second season easing into who this person is and exploring a lot more.
AFTERBUZZ: That’s awesome. For both of you, what was the audition process like?
JAIDYN: The audition process was really cool because I started watching iCarly about a week before I got the audition, so during the process, I watched seasons two and three, and watching it I was like if I get this, I get to meet all these people that are on my TV screen right now. During the chemistry read I got to meet Miranda Cosgrove and that was just crazy to me. It didn’t even set in during the Zoom, it was kind of afterwards that I was like, ‘Oh, I just met Miranda Cosgrove!’ And I was freaking out after. So the audition process was truly amazing, being able to see those people on my TV screen and then getting to meet them in real life.
LACI: My process was a little different. I was on a hike and I got a call from my agents and they were like, ‘Do you wanna audition for iCarly? We’ll send you the script, tell us if you like it. The showrunner will meet with you today if you want.’ And it’s like a Saturday or a Sunday so I was like, okay. So the next thing I know, I’m on Zoom with Ali Schouten. My only question was, I love working in good work environments as an actress–especially as a Black actress, I’ve been in some unfortunate circumstances in Hollywood that I just didn’t wanna be in anymore. And so I remember asking Ali, ‘Is everyone nice here? Is everyone working here a nice person?’ And she was like, ‘Yes, these are the best people I’ve ever worked with. We’re having a great time.’ Next thing I know I’m on Zoom with Jerry, Miranda, and Nathan. We did a lot of improv. It was super fun.
I actually met Miranda when we did a Snickers Super Bowl commercial, where I was standing next to a hole, singing a song about Snickers. And then next thing I know, someone just walks over with Miranda Cosgrove and stands her next to me and they’re like, ‘Hey Laci, can you teach Miranda the song?’ So we’re in the cold and the rain singing into a dirt hole, and that was the first time I met Miranda. Since then, she’s been a wonderful friend and I love everyone in this cast so much.
AFTERBUZZ: That’s amazing. Jaidyn for you, what has it been like figuring out your relationship with Nathan on the show?
JAIDYN: I feel like Nathan is a real father figure in real life, so honestly the transition between Millicent and Jaidyn between cut and action, it’s basically the same thing because Nathan will always be a dad. He just has that dad energy because he does have two children. So he’s like, ‘Oh, should you be eating that candy right now?’ And I’m like, oh my gosh, my parents are over there for a reason. So I think being able to work with him has been really cool because he is like another father figure to me
AFTERBUZZ: Another one of my favorite relationships on the show is Harper and Spencer. Laci, what was it like stepping into a show where you’re playing a character who is constantly going at it with such a beloved character from the original show?
LACI: It’s very fun. We all playfully roast each other on set. We all joyfully bullied Nathan because he didn’t have the same type of phone as us, and so we bullied him until he got the same type of phone. We were like, ‘We’re not talking to you in the group chats, we’re tired of this.’ We love to all playfully rip each other, so I think that it translates when Jerry and I are playing on set. We have a really great time together and the characters blend really well. It’s fun to see Harper’s kind of bougie, neurotic energy next to Jerry’s carefree silliness.
AFTERBUZZ: Jerry, now that y’all are back in the swing of playing characters that you’ve been playing for so long, what is your preparation process like for when you get a new script for the show?
JERRY: Coffee. I just get really hopped up on caffeine and then I skim through the script to see at what point I get covered in some sort of goop or I have to fall through a wooden type of structure. And then I cry and then I call Nathan and he soothes me for about an hour and a half. And then I’m ready to go for Monday.
NATHAN: What he doesn’t know though is my process is I go through the script and if there’s not one of those bits, I write up the email to say, ‘Hey guys, what are we doing? Where’s the goop, and the structures that he’s supposed to fall through? We gotta get those in there.’ And then he calls me and then I’m like, oh man.
JERRY: It was you the whole time?!
AFTERBUZZ: Jerry, I have to say, I loved your Instagram post promoting the new season where you said the body count is higher than ever.
JERRY: Oh good. Yep. Sometimes it feels like that. Sometimes it feels like that.
AFTERBUZZ: I just finished watching the first two episodes of the new season and I love the fake Freddie/Carly relationship. Nathan, do you think there’s any chance that they would actually work out together for real in this stage of their lives?
NATHAN: I don’t know. I think what we’re learning is that this whole thing is incredibly complicated and even faking it brings up the question in their minds of what’s going on and what am I actually feeling while trying to work our way through this con that we’re trying to run on people. I think obviously you can see especially in the first episode, there’s a lot of internal struggle, at least I know on Freddie’s part, and I think that question sort of runs itself through. But the hard part is, then Carly starts asking herself these questions because Freddie’s in a serious relationship for the first time since his last divorce. So she’s not used to seeing him on this side of a relationship with someone else.
JERRY: Nathan, let me jump in here and just simplify for one second. Can it work out? Maybe. Does it? Tune in!
NATHAN: Yeah. What Jerry said, that’s what I mean.
AFTERBUZZ: Jerry speaking of old plot lines on iCarly, I remember going to iCarly.com and watching the extra videos of doing stuff to Spencer while he sleeps. Would you be down to bring that back?
JERRY: Well, of course. I’m down for any of the classics. Bring any of the bits back that people love. And I had forgotten about that bit, but that’s a funny one. That’s something we gotta talk about.
NATHAN: That and random debates. I would love to have an adult random debate. That would be interesting.
AFTERBUZZ: That would be amazing. And Nathan, you guys did an original movie for the original iCarly. If you were to do another one, what do you think it would be about?
NATHAN: My hope would be that it would be some other very cool location that we would then all have to go to and do together, but like a really gritty single-cam take on it. We’re out in the jungle trying to make just killer viral content, and then Spencer gets covered in something obviously, but it’s something out in the jungle.
JERRY: I think now that you guys are twenty-somethings and Spencer’s loaded, I think we should go to Vegas.
NATHAN: Woah. But then something goes wrong and we get stuck out in the desert.
JERRY: Oh yeah. We go to Sin City and just all hell breaks loose.
NATHAN: Yeah, something in Vegas would be fun to watch.
You can catch all ten new episodes of iCarly now streaming on Paramount+, and follow AfterBuzz TV for all the news on your favorite Paramount shows.
