What Miranda Cosgrove Has Been Doing Since iCarly Ended

The following article includes a brief mention of suicide.

Nickelodeon has produced some of the world's most famous child stars. Though not all of them are still active in the entertainment industry, we've still been gifted with the work they created for us as adolescents. "All That," for example, gave us Kenan Thompson, "The Amanda Show" gave us Amanda Bynes, "Drake & Josh" gave us Drake Bell and Josh Peck, and "iCarly," of course, gave us Miranda Cosgrove. "iCarly" has since remained one of the most successful Nickelodeon shows of all time, featuring Cosgrove and Jennette McCurdy as teenage girls, respectively Carly Shay and Sam Puckett, who hosted their own webcast. It debuted at the perfect time in 2007 — when YouTube was surging in popularity and users were beginning to make a living on the website.

Cosgrove became a bona fide star from the TV series and has grown up to be one of the few former child stars to have emerged unscathed from the industry. While the actor-singer initially took a break from showbiz following the show's original six-season run, she's since continued her multi-faceted career — and she's been very busy, to boot. Here's what Miranda Cosgrove has been up to since "iCarly" ended in 2012.

Though acting remained in her path after "iCarly" ended (more on that later), Miranda Cosgrove initially took a hiatus and enrolled in college. The former child star attended the University of Southern California, majoring in film. (We imagine she began her studies with a bit more prior knowledge than most of her classmates.)

And although she did enter college, she did so with the intention of remaining in the entertainment industry, as evidenced by her major. "I definitely want to act. That's why I want to major in film. The most important thing is to find a good story. It's hard when you're coming from a TV show. I'm hoping to find something that's right. ... I wouldn't want to rush and do something that wasn't right. I'm just focusing on school," she told USA Today of her time at the university in 2012. Cosgrove did not finish in the same major as she started, though. The actor took to "Live with Kelly and Ryan" in 2017 to give an update on her studies and revealed that she had switched majors to psychology.

While Cosgrove reportedly graduated the following year, she previously told ABC News in 2014 how much pursuing higher education impacted her personal life: "College really does help you grow up and figure out who you are. So, it's just helped me grow as a person."

Miranda Cosgrove has also been busy recording voiceover work for what became the highest-grossing animated film franchise of all time in 2017, "Despicable Me." The first installment, which was released while Cosgrove was still starring on "iCarly," stars Steve Carell and Jason Segel, and tells the story of three sisters who are adopted by a supervillain.

Fans fell in love with the movie, as well as the adorable — and sometimes maddeningly popular — yellow Minions. After "iCarly" ended, Cosgrove was still involved with the franchise and reprised her role for two more installments. For the longtime Nickelodeon star, though, it wasn't too much to handle when balancing her studies at USC. As she told Movies Games and Tech in 2017, "Basically it's been really easy, because I haven't ever done both at the same time. I'm either at school or taking a semester off to act."

Taking the time off was well worth it for Cosgrove, as she earned herself a Kids' Choice Award for her work in "Despicable Me 2" in 2014. "It's an honor," she said, adding of her role in the franchise, "It's really fun to be a part of something like this ... to see how happy it makes little kids." At the time of this writing, Cosgrove is set to play her character, Margo, for a fourth installment of the series, which is expected to premiere in July 2024, per Variety.

Miranda Cosgrove didn't just stick to animated features, however. The actor has also shown her acting chops in live-action movies, like the 2015 horror film "The Intruders," which she starred in alongside Austin Butler. According to IMDb's synopsis, Cosgrove played a teenage girl trying "to uncover the dark secrets behind her new home" after her mother's death. The movie was filmed in Canada, and Cosgrove noted to Teen Vogue how the location helped her get into character: "I was away from my family in Canada making the movie. I was feeling a lot of feelings that the character was feeling. That definitely helped." Unfortunately, the film did not perform very well among critics and audiences alike, garnering a low 17% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Seemingly undeterred, Cosgrove also ventured into another television role, starring in the short-lived comedy "Crowded" the following year. Although she had worked in various shows since she was a child, this one was a little different due to the studio audience factor. "I was actually really nervous about that at first because I've never done anything like that before," Cosgrove told Showbiz Junkies. "I was like, 'Oh my gosh, if it's not funny, they're not going to laugh.'" 

The sitcom about adult daughters who want to move back in with their parents was cancelled following one 13-episode season. But Cosgrove continued racking up credits on both the big and small screens, appearing in the likes of "Spaced Out" and "History of Them" on TV and "3022" and "North Hollywood" in theatres.

In addition to child star, pop singer, and college student, Miranda Cosgrove can also add Emmy nominee to her list of accomplishments. Not that a Kids' Choice Award is anything to snuff at, but this one has got to feel a little more prestigious. In 2019, Cosgrove began working on "Mission Unstoppable with Miranda Cosgrove," an educational television show that "strives to empower young women and showcases the many ways they can impact the world through careers in STEM," as noted by Geena Davis, one of the show's executive producers, in a statement to Variety.

As of this writing, "Mission Unstoppable" has run for three seasons and even earned a nomination for outstanding educational or informational series at the 2020 Daytime Emmy Awards. The show has, of course, featured lots of impressive women, and Cosgrove has been impacted herself. "I love hearing the inspiring stories people have shared on the series and the unique paths each person has taken to make their STEM dreams a reality," she told Seventeen about her time on the show.

Not only has Miranda Cosgrove earned herself a Kids' Choice Award, but she's also hosted the show. In March 2022, the former child star and Rob Gronkowski teamed up to host one of the most exciting events of the year for kids. "Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards has always been such a unique show with tons of energy, superstars and of course, lots of slime. Nickelodeon has always been my family and to co-host this iconic show alongside Gronk will be a blast," Cosgrove said in an announcement, as reported by Deadline.

Cosgrove was doubly busy the night of the event, as she also attended the show as a nominee. The reboot of "iCarly" (which we'll get to below) was up for favorite family TV show, while Cosgrove received a nod for favorite female TV star — and both ended up winning the coveted orange blimps, per People.

The event was rife with celebrity appearances, performances, and, just as Cosgrove forewarned, plenty of slime. "KCA's 2022 were a blast! Still recovering from all the slime," she noted in an Instagram post following the event. Nickelodeon was clearly pleased with her hosting duties, as the network commented on her post, "Thanks for being an amazing host."

Miranda Cosgrove is already familiar with unprecedented stardom thanks to her time on "iCarly." But in the age of TikTok, it seems like nothing can prepare you for the storm that is viral fame, even if you played the character who pretty much wrote the fictional playbook on navigating that kind of influencer attention.

In early 2022, an interview Cosgrove did on Whitney Cummings' "Good for You" podcast from a couple of years prior resurfaced and took TikTok by storm as a sound on the video-sharing app. In the clip, Cosgrove admitted to the comedian, "I actually do cuss a little," and revealed that the F-bomb is her usual word of choice. This solicited a loud laugh from Cummings, which many users misattributed to Cosgrove. TikTok creators have used the sound to dub over with their own videos, including the likes of Lizzo and Cosgrove's friend and former "Drake and Josh" costar, Josh Peck.

When asked about the sound, Cosgrove told ET in March 2022, "Everyone on TikTok thinks it's me laughing, but it's my friend Whitney laughing, and I keep texting her, like, 'You framed me!'"

Being in the spotlight might seem like a fantasy for many people, especially when looking at the glitz and glamor of the celebrity lifestyle. However, it can sometimes be very dangerous to be known and loved internationally, and Miranda Cosgrove unfortunately had first-hand experience with that danger when a man appeared to be stalking her Los Angeles home, per TMZ.

In late 2016, the actor learned that the man had been sneaking onto her property and burying weapons and other items in Cosgrove's backyard, with the stalking tragically culminating when he died by suicide in front of the property. Cosgrove later shared on Whitney Cummings's "Good for You" podcast in 2020 that authorities were still not sure why the unsettling event happened and that it could have been a random event. Still, though, it understandably gave the star quite the scare. "It freaked me out really bad, and I started staying back at my parents' house, and then I got another house somewhere else," Cosgrove shared.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

In the age of nostalgia we seem to be living in, it's perhaps no surprise that a show as successful and loved as "iCarly" was rebooted. Paramount+ took the liberty of reviving the series, which premiered in 2021 and featured Miranda Cosgrove reprising her role as Carly Shay, as well as fan favorites Nathan Kress returning as her friend, Freddie Benson, and Jerry Trainor as her brother, Spencer Shay. Sam Puckett, played by Jennette McCurdy, was noticeably absent, but the revival also included a cast of new characters to help fill the void.

Cosgrove also got a new role this time around, serving as an executive producer. "I'm getting to help edit all the episodes. I've never edited anything in my life. ... These are all things that I've never done before. So it's just been a real learning process and I've enjoyed every second of it," she said to People of her new experience. In a case of art imitating life, Cosgrove added, "It's kind of funny because in the show 'iCarly,' Carly's character goes to college after she is in Italy with her dad for a few years ... and then she ends up coming back to the show. 'iCarly' was like me in real life. And she starts up the show for the first time in 10 years."

Fans were pleased enough with the reboot for Paramount+ to renew it for a second season, which aired in the spring of 2022.

In addition to all the work she's paid for, Miranda Cosgrove keeps herself busy through volunteerism. The "iCarly" star has a number of causes she's passionate about and often teams up with various brands to move the needle. Back in 2011, for example, Cosgrove collaborated with Neutrogena for a grant worth $10,000 to provide children with music education at a public library in Los Angeles. The cause is understandably close to the actor-singer's heart, as she shared in a video on her YouTube channel, "Education and music are two of the most important things in my life."

Cosgrove is also passionate about saving the environment, and she shared with Green Matters a decade later that she hopes her actions will spark action against climate change in others. In December 2021, the Nickelodeon actor partnered with HP's Girls Save the World to host innovation challenges, noting, "I feel like this is going to get a lot of young girls thinking, and coming up with ideas, and realizing their potential when it comes to helping the environment."

Per Look to the Stars, Cosgrove has also supported a number of other organizations, such as the Alzheimer's Association, Kids Wish Network, and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, among several others.

Given that she's starred in a hit television show, among various other high-profile projects like "School of Rock" and "Drake and Josh," it makes sense that Miranda Cosgrove is impressively worth an estimated $10 million these days, per Celebrity Net Worth. Although, according to former Nickelodeon co-star Josh Peck's March 2022 appearance on "CNBC Make It," stars of children's shows are not as well compensated as one might think. 

At any rate, Cosgrove has earned a laudable sum of money through her work as an actor, and it has only increased since "iCarly's" first run ended in 2012, thanks to her roles in her hit movies like the "Despicable Me" franchise, as well as her multi-faceted role as host and executive producer on "Mission Unstoppable with Miranda Cosgrove," and reprising her most popular gig by acting in and executive producing the "iCarly" reboot.

Cosgrove's status as a young mogul was cemented when Forbes placed her on their 2021 list of 30 Under 30. The actor, singer, and producer shared with the outlet the advice she now gives children who want to follow a similar career path and achieve showbiz success. "I always tell them, 'You got to do what actually feels good to you. ... You can't change yourself to try to get a part,'" Cosgrove said, adding, "'You have to be you and you have to feel good about it.' And I think that took me a while to learn."