Nickelodeon star Victoria Justice may finally be growing up.
The actress and singer — whose transition from child celebrity to adult star has been fraught — hopes to put out some new music next month and is in two movies set for release later this year.
“The audience that was watching me on Nickelodeon, they’ve all kind of grown up with me so they’re ready to see me in adult, mature roles,” she said.
It’s a long time coming. Her first step into the adult world of television — MTV’s “Eye Candy” — was canceled this year after just one season.
She played a hacker who suspected an online suitor might be a serial killer — a far cry from her last Nickelodeon role on “Victorious” as a student in a performing arts high school.
Justice’s co-star on the show was Ariana Grande — who released a single, “The Way,” to huge commercial success. Meanwhile, Justice’s debut single, “Gold,” failed to make the Top 100 chart.
And as Grande has soared, Justice’s musical career has been stalled. Last year, she even asked to be released from her contract with Columbia Records because of supposed creative differences.
But now Justice is primed for a second act. She hopes to release a song next month and she’s deciding between signing with a new label or releasing music independently.
She also has two movies coming out later this year, “The Outskirts” and “Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List.”
In “Naomi and Ely,” she plays a girl who’s in love with a boy, who’s in love with a boy.
“That’s outside of a Nickelodeon realm and it’s a very mature, real story,” she said.
Justice is also an ambassador for JetBlue’s “Soar with Reading” program, a reading initiative that has donated over $1.25 million in books to kids in need.
The program, which is in its fifth year, is having a #BookBattle to pick which of five cities – Detroit, Houston, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles or New York City, will receive a donation of 100 thousand children’s books. The city with the most online votes by the end of August will win.
“I know without reading I wouldn’t be who I am today or where I am today,” Justice said. “There are so many kids who don’t have access to books like I do or age appropriate books. They need that [access] so they can thrive and grow up to be whatever they want to be.”
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