Victoria Justice (born February 19, 1993) is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and dancer. She debuted as an actress at the age of 10 and has since appeared in several films and television series including the Nickelodeon series Zoey 101 and Victorious.
She has made appearances in several theatrical releases, including Unknown as well as the 2006 thriller The Garden. She has appeared in several Nickelodeon series, including True Jackson, VP, The Troop, The Penguins of Madagascar and iCarly, as well as on the Nickelodeon game show BrainSurge as a contestant. In 2010 she starred in the Nickelodeon film The Boy Who Cried Werewolf.
Aside from acting, Justice is involved in her musical career. She has performed several songs for the soundtrack to the Nickelodeon musical Spectacular!, in which she starred. She has recorded a number of songs for the Victorious series. Justice has announced the release of her debut album, which is expected to be released sometime during 2012.
Justice first began her acting career when she was 10 years old, when she made a guest appearance on the Gilmore Girls episode "The Hobbit, the Sofa and Digger Stiles". Justice portrayed Jill #2 in a walk-on role. After her appearance in the series, her family moved to Los Angeles, when Justice stated she wanted a career in acting. The following year, Justice guest starred on the second episode of the Disney channel series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, in which she plays a young pageant contestant named Rebecca.
Later, Justice was awarded a role in the 2005 drama-thriller Mary. Justice portrayed the role of Stella, a young girl who begins seeing visions of Mary Magdalene. After informing her family of this, they take her to see a psychiatrist, who places her on medication. Later that night, when Mary comes back, Stella takes her medicine and ignores her. This leads Mary to give Stella's sister the task instead. The film debuted at 2005 Venice Film Festival, before being showed at several other Festivals, including the 2005 Toronto Film Festival, Deauville Film Festival and San Sebastián International Film Festival.
During the same year, Justice was awarded a main cast role in the Nickelodeon series Zoey 101 as Lola Martinez, a new student who is also an aspiring actress. When she found out she had earned the role, she said "I was extremely happy; I was bouncing up and down and screaming. That was a really great moment."
The season 2 episode that introduced Justice's character debuted on September 11, 2005. Justice also had roles in two other films that year. She had a cameo appearance in the R-rated film When Do We Eat?, as well as earning the role of Rose in the Hallmark television film Silver Bells, the following of which has become a Hallmark Hall of Fame film.
In 2006, while filming episodes for Zoey 101, Justice made a guest appearance on an episode of the series Everwood, in the episode "Enjoy the Ride". Justice made her theatrical film debut that year, when she was given a cameo role in the film Unknown. The film was a financial failure, and received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently has a 39% approval rate, and only has a 44% approval rate on metacritic.
Justice returned to the recording studio to record music for the series in 2010. She recorded the series first featured song, which also serves as the theme song, titled "Make It Shine". The single had little success charting in the U.S., however it did manage to reach 16 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 singles chart. Several other songs have been featured in the series, including "You're the Reason", "Finally Falling", "Beggin' on Your Knees","Best Friend's Brother" and "Tell Me That You Love Me".
Justice performed her third official single, "Freak the Freak Out", during the Victorious special episode of the same name. The single became her third song to receive an official release, after "A Thousand Miles" and "Make It Shine" and was officially released on November 22, 2010. The single has become her first song to chart on any major chart, when it debuted at 78 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Justice performed the song live for the first time at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Justice later guest-starred on the animated series The Penguins of Madagascar, voicing the character of Stacy in the episode "Badger Pride". Justice starred in the 2010 Nickelodeon television movie The Boy Who Cried Werewolf, playing Jordan Sands, a girl who is transformed into a werewolf following her move to a creepy manor. The film was a major success for the network, drawing in 5.8 million viewers for the premiere.
The film received generally positive reviews from critics. The film currently holds a 69% approval rate on Rotten Tomatoes based on 24 reviews. Felix Vasques Jr. of CinemaCrazed gave the film a positive review as well, stating "The Boy Who Cried Werewolf ends up being a surprisingly solid family horror comedy that isn't as soapy or girly as I originally assumed it would be. Within the pandering to preteens salivating after Justice, there is also a solid however flawed and derivative story and some wicked special effects." It has been confirmed that in 2011 the cast of iCarly, along with the cast of Victorious will be doing a crossover episode, titled iParty with Victorious. This will mark the second time Justice has guest starred for iCarly, first as Shelby Marx.
In a 2010 interview with the Associated Press, she stated that she is recording an album but will take her time with the process, rather than rush it, and write the songs on the album. But, she is very excited waiting for it. In March 2011 The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Justice had landed the lead role in the coming of age comedy Fun Size (set for release in October 2012). Justice will play the part of Wren and the movie will also feature stars such as Johnny Knoxville, Chelsea Handler and Josh Pence.
