Miranda Cosgrove

Miranda Taylor Cosgrove (born May 14, 1993) is an American film and television actress and pop recording artist. Cosgrove played the roles of Megan Parker in Drake & Josh and title character in iCarly. Her career started at the age of three, participating in television commercials. Cosgrove's film debut was in 2003, as Summer Hathaway in School of Rock.

After years of small television appearances, Cosgrove was cast into the hit show Drake & Josh and later in iCarly. Cosgrove earns $180,000 per episode of iCarly, making her the second highest paid child star on television.

Following the success of iCarly, a soundtrack album was released in June 2008, in which she performed four songs. Cosgrove's debut album Sparks Fly was released on April 27, 2010; The Matrix, Dr. Luke, and Espionage worked with her on it.

Early life and acting interest
Cosgrove was born in Los Angeles, California to Tom, who owns a dry cleaning business, and Chris, a stay-at-home mother. 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 stated that when the agent walked up to her and her mom for modeling, she had "never really thought of being an [actress]" and "was lucky". After choosing to take the offer, she appeared in television commercials for McDonald's and Mello Yello, and also modeled. At the age of seven, Cosgrove decided to that "[she] loved doing it" and auditioned for theater and television roles.

2001–2006: Rise to fame
Cosgrove's first television appearance was in 2001 as a 5-year old Lana Lang in the pilot of Smallville. Cosgrove then made her film debut with the 2003 film School of Rock. 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 the new teacher by becoming band manager of classroom's rock band. School of Rock was both a box office hit, grossing over $131,282,949 worldwide, and critical success, receiving a 91 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes. Cosgrove's acting on the film was praised with David Ansen of Newsweek describing it as "spot on". She said of the experience of working with Jack Black: "The first week it was like, 'Oh, my God, that's Jack Black,' but two weeks later it was fine. He's really funny. Sometimes the director would say, 'Jack you can't make them laugh so much.'" She cited the scene as trying to sing wrong as very difficult. Cosgrove stated that "I got a 45-minute lesson from Jim O'Rourke of Sonic Youth on how to sing badly. I've 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 grateful she was in School of Rock, as it exposed her to classic rock songs she was unfamiliar with. "After the movie," said Cosgrove, "I discovered Led Zeppelin and I've taken up the electric guitar".

While filming School of Rock in New York City, Cosgrove was informed that the pilot for Drake & Josh had been picked up. In the series, she portrayed the mischievous sister of the title character, Megan Parker. The show made its debut on January 11, 2004 and drew positive responses in ratings. Cosgrove said this about show: "It's like a big family. We know each other so well, nothing is embarrassing anymore....It's really comfortable, and it's really fun." While on the show, she was able to develop a partnership with Dan Schneider, known for producing various Nickelodeon shows (Zoey 101, The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, Kenan & Kel, All That, etc.). He would go on to help create iCarly.

2007–present: iCarly and music career
Schneider tailored iCarly around the interest young people have in the internet. A unique part of this show is the fact that viewers may submit their own videos and also be included in the show. Cosgrove said of the audience participation aspect, "When I first heard about the idea, I thought it was so cool. If I were home and watching TV, I'd want to send in a video." The show has been a success. By the summer of 2008, the show was the third highest rated in the 9-14 demographic. The "iCarly Saves TV" special extended episode, became the most-viewed entertainment show on cable TV in June 2008.

Cosgrove's debut as a recording artist began with the iCarly theme song "Leave It All to Me". The song features her former Drake & Josh castmate Drake Bell and is written by Michael Corcoran, one of Bell's band members. It was released as a single in December 2007 through digital distribution and eventually peaked at number one-hundred on the Billboard Hot 100. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard Kid Albums chart. In June 2008, Columbia Records released the iCarly soundtrack, which featured four songs performed by Cosgrove ("Leave It All to Me", "Stay My Baby", "About You Now", and "Headphones On"). Critical reception for her performance was positive. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic stated that Cosgrove proved "herself to be an appealingly spunky singer" and the "good tunes" she performed "[made] the most of her girlish talents". However, Erlewine noted that the "focus [was] not on her" because of other artists, she but rather "[blended] in the mix". The following promotional single "Stay My Baby" failed to reach charts, but "About You Now" reached number forty-seven on the Hot 100 in January 2009, becoming her most successful single to date.

Following all the success of the iCarly soundtrack, Cosgrove became one of MTV's Female Pop Rookies of 2009. In December 2008, a cover of the holiday song "Christmas Wrapping" was released to promote the hour long special "Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh". On February 3, 2009, Cosgrove released her first solo recording, the extended play About You Now, exclusively on the iTunes Store. The extended play featured the title track, a remix of it, and a remix of "Stay My Baby", as well as two new songs "F.Y.I." and "Party Girl". To promote the 2009 animated film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Columbia Records released a single entitled "Raining Sunshine" with an accompanying music video in August 2009.

Since July 2008, plans for a debut album have been active. In an interview with MTV News, Cosgrove discussed the forthcoming album. Cosgrove reported to be "co-writing and getting really into" the album, as oppose to the iCarly soundtrack in which she "just picked songs that meant a lot to [her], that [she] really liked." She also described the album as "still pop rock fun" in comparison to her previous work on the iCarly soundtrack, though "a little more mature". Themes for the album are "love songs and just fun songs about hanging out with your girlfriends". When releasing About You Now, Cosgrove further elaborated on the album's concepts. She described working with producers and songwriters The Matrix and Dr. Luke as "definitely different". Cosgrove also worked with songwriters Leah Haywood and Daniel James, and said that "most of the songs are fun, pop, rock-girl empowerment". She noted that "there's one ballad that's kind of sad" and that "it's called 'What Are You Waiting For?' It's about a girl who likes a guy [but he doesn't feel the same way]". She added it's something she's experienced in her own life: "I definitely have guys that I'm friends with that I have a crush on, and you don't want to ruin the friendship". Nickelodeon has announced the album will be released in April 2010, and the first single from her album, "Kissin' U", was premiered on Ryan Seacrest's radio show on March 12, 2010, and released to iTunes on March 23, 2010.

On March 17, 2010, it was reported that Cosgrove had signed a deal, reportedly in the "low- to mid-seven-figure range" to do 26 additional episodes of iCarly.

She wants to attend NYU, although her dad wants her to remain close to home and attend college at USC, his alma mater.

Cosgrove voiced a character in Universal Studios' 3-D computer animated feature Despicable Me, released in July 2010.

Promotional model
She signed with Neutrogena on February 12, 2010, as an ambassador for the well-known skincare and cosmetics company.

EPs

 * About You Now (2009)

Soundtracks

 * iCarly (2008)
 * ''Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)