Victoria Justice sits down for a chat with Nylon for the magazine’s May 2020 special Young Hollywood issue with Zoe Kravitz, Bella Heathcote and Juno Temple on the cover. In her interview, Justice talks about Nickelodeon, career plans and moving out of tween territory. Lovely Victoria, who is not just a talented actress but also a singer, songwriter and dancer, appeared in several films and television series including the Nickelodeon series Zoey 101 and Victorious and she also announced the release of her debut album.
“It was really cool to be seen in a different light outside of Nickelodeon,” she says of her supporting role in ‘The First Time’, Jon Kasden’s comedy about two teenagers losing their virginity, which premiered at Sundance in January, “I’m in about three scenes in the movie – three scenes I’m really proud of, and I think I get to show some range, but the movie is not really on my shoulders.”
Well, the actress cannot say the same thing about her role in ‘Fun Size’, a coming-of-age comedy to be released in October in the directorial debut from Josh Schwartz. “Yeah! That one’s definitely on my shoulders,” Justice says. She admits that she loved the script from the moment she read it, but “wasn’t sure the role would fly with Nickelodeon.” “I want to represent the brand properly, because I’m in that world right now, so I didn’t want to do anything too crazy,” she explains Nylon.
Josh Schwartz says that, “We needed someone the audience would root for, identify with, laugh with, and fall in love with. Victoria gives you all of that – she’s appealing, funny, sweet, with this tremendous audience of fans who have grown up with her and are excited about seeing her next thing. I think she’s just going to continue to grow as an actress, but she’s naturally a star already. And did I mention, nice?”
When it comes to her career plans, Victoria Justice confesses she is eager to try new things. “I realize, being on Nickelodeon right now, I’m going to have to prove myself. I want to play characters that are different from what I’m doing now. I really want to try new things,” she admits in the interview with the magazine. “I just really want to surprise people and work with people who push me, as well.”
Victoria also recorded eight singles and is working on her debut album. The young star might also try playing in different film genres. Well, horror excluded. “I am undeniably afraid of the dark! I’ll call from my cell to the home phone, being like, ‘Mom! I heard a sound, come quick,’” the actress says.
On shifting to more mature roles, Justice told Nylon that, “I want to stretch myself as an actor. I want to work with people that have been doing this much longer than I have, and are a lot better at this than I am so I can learn and grow from them. I want to work with directors, work with actors, work with writers…. [Working with] Meryl Streep is, like, OMG, a dream,” Victoria says.
Photos courtesy of NYLON
