iCarly star Miranda Cosgrove returns to series TV with the NBC comedy, Crowded, from executive producers Sean Hayes, Todd Milliner, James Burrows, and writer/executive producer Suzanne Martin. The timely comedy features an ensemble cast that includes Cosgrove, Mira Serafino, Patrick Warburton (Seinfeld), Carrie Preston (True Blood), Stacy Keach (NCIS: New Orleans) and Carlease Burke (Switched at Birth).
The Plot: After 20 years of parenting, empty nesters Mike (Warburton) and Martina (Preston) are finally reclaiming their wild side. But when both of their two grown daughters (Cosgrove and Serafino) unexpectedly move back in and Mike’s parents (Keach and Burke) scratch their plans to spend their golden years in Florida, their roost is full again.
NBC presented a panel featuring Crowded at the 2016 Television Critics Association’s winter event, and following the panel I sat down with a few other journalists to talk to Cosgrove about her new series and growing up on TV.
Miranda Cosgrove Interview:
Has it been easy to make a transition from pre-teen and teen roles to a series like this?
Miranda Cosgrove: “Yeah, I feel like it has because I come from doing sitcoms for a lot of my life. But I’m real excited about this one because I feel like my friends will think it’s cool. All of my friends can really relate to it because they all live at home with their parents. [Laughing] I think that’s another reason why I’m not embarrassed to be living at my parents’ house because all my friends do too.”
Do your parents have rules for living at home?
Miranda Cosgrove: “They don’t make me pay rent but I do dishes. I have to clean my room. [Laughing] Kind of like I’m a little kid living there.”
How different is doing Crowded from iCarly?
Miranda Cosgrove: “It’s pretty different. We didn’t have a live audience for iCarly. We did it for seven years and we never had an audience, it was just the crew. I was actually really nervous about that at first because I’ve never done anything like that before. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, if it’s not funny, they’re not going to laugh.’”
Did you consciously choose to do more of a supporting part because in iCarly you were the star?
Miranda Cosgrove: “Well, with iCarly even though it was called iCarly, I felt it was a bit of an ensemble. Getting to work with all of those people is what I think made people like the show because we had such a great time. So it’s pretty cool to be in an ensemble and getting to work with all these people.”
Was Crowds an easy choice for a project after iCarly?
Miranda Cosgrove: “I feel like it’s not a crazy jump to something completely different, but it is a lot more edgy and a lot different than iCarly so that definitely drew me to it and made me excited.”
What funny stuff is coming up on Crowded?
Miranda Cosgrove: “I have a lot of episodes where my storylines are with Mia [Serafino], who plays my sister. And we just had a really good time together. I know everybody says this but we’re like really good friends in real life now and I think that adds a lot to the show. You can improvise and add a lot to it when you really are close with the person you’re acting with.”
Can you believe all of the new social media that’s emerged since iCarly?
Miranda Cosgrove: “I know, it’s crazy, right? At the time I felt like that was really cutting edge. Tying the internet in with the show was a new thing at that point, so it is kind of crazy how far it’s come.”
Do you ever feel like you missed out on anything by starting in the business so young, or was it an advantage?
Miranda Cosgrove: “I think in a lot of ways I’m really lucky that I got to start young. But then, yeah, definitely in some ways I felt like maybe if I had never done anything yet and I just did something completely new I could be seen in a different way more easily.”
Do you feel trapped by your persona a little?
Miranda Cosgrove: “Maybe a little bit just because I played that character on iCarly for so long. But at the same time I do feel lucky because I have a lot of people that know who I am and know about the show, and that’s pretty cool to have that.”
What do you think about School of Rock being on Broadway?
Miranda Cosgrove: “I went to see that! It was so good. I loved it.”
Was it bizarre seeing that?
Miranda Cosgrove: “It was a little weird. The little girl who played Summer, the part I played in the movie, is amazing. Some of the lines even sounded like me when I was little, so it was definitely a funny experience seeing that. But, it’s really exciting.”
Has your voice changed too much to do Despicable Me now?
Miranda Cosgrove: [Laughing] “No. I guess I have a naturally young voice! We’re working on the next one right now.”
What’s up next?
Miranda Cosgrove: “I love acting and I love comedy, so I’m really excited to be a part of this show. I hope people like it.”
