What Happened to Miranda Cosgrove – 2024 Updates

Miranda Cosgrove will have been on TV, in one form or another, for twenty years this fall. Quite impressive, considering she’s only 22. At one point the second-highest-paid child star, and she’s been nominated for numerous awards. However, since iCarly ended in 2012, Cosgrove’s career has slowed down. Her new show, Crowded, doesn’t seem like it will last. So what will be next for the young star?

Miranda Cosgrove on Drake & Josh

Cosgrove was born and raised just outside of Hollywood, in 1993. Her parents own a dry-cleaning business, so when a talent agent approached Cosgrove’s mom in a restaurant, it took the family by surprise. She persuaded her mom to go accept the offer and soon after she began to appear in commercials. She was in a couple Burger King ads, and was a clothing model for several brands.

Her first TV appearance outside commercials was when she was five, for the pilot episode of Smallville. Two years later, she played Summer Hathaway in School of Rock. The film was one of Jack Black’s most popular and well-reviewed films, and Miranda’s performance helped her stand out.

So when Dan Schneider was casting for his new Nickelodeon show, she was able to get an audition. The show, Drake & Josh, starred Drake Bell and Josh Peck. But Miranda Cosgrove’s character, Megan Parker, was an audience favorite. Schneider was the producer responsible for Kenan & Kel and The Amanda Show, so his latest production had the ratings to give Cosgrove a spotlight.

After the first season of Drake & Josh, she kept herself busy, guest-starring in What’s New, Scooby-Doo? and Grounded for Life. The second season of Drake & Josh was even more successful, getting her a supporting role in 2005’s Yours, Mine, & Ours, starring Dennis Quaid. Clearly aware of her potential star-power, Nickelodeon had her guest-star in almost every live-action show they were running in 2006. By 2007, they were ready to put her on her own show.

Miranda Cosgrove on iCarly

When Schneider was working with Miranda Cosgrove for her guest appearance on Zoey 101, he had the idea to cast her as the star of a show where she lucks into starring in her character’s favorite show. He wrote a full pilot around this concept, but then after hanging out with Steven Molaro (producer on The Big Bang Theory) he decided to throw out that script.

Playing into the growing popularity of self-produced online videos, they decided to have Cosgrove’s character run her own show, rather than work on a big-budget show. After a complete rewrite of the script, iCarly‘s pilot was ready, and was filmed in January 2007.

The pilot was broadcast on September 8, 2007, with the series finale of Drake & Josh airing a week later. The show was able to capture a huge portion of Drake & Josh‘s viewership, and by the second season, iCarly was one of Nickelodeon’s most popular shows. A soundtrack album was released, and featured four songs performed by Miranda Cosgrove.

In December 2008, she reprised her role as the little sister for Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh. Around that same time she also began a romance with James Maslow, from Big Time Rush. Perhaps encouraged by Maslow, Cosgrove released a solo EP, About You Now, designed to promote the single of the same name.

In 2009, MTV named her one of their Female Pop Rookies, and through the year she worked with a variety of producers to prepare her debut album. On March 12, 2010 she went on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show to debut “Kissin’ U”, the first single from the album, and in April, Sparks Fly was released.

Peaking at #8 on the Billboard 200, the album helped Cosgrove’s celebrity expand past Nickelodeon. That summer, she provided the voice for Margo, one of the three girls in Despicable Me. This boost in fame helped her negotiate for a higher salary, earning around $180,000 for each episode of iCarly she did in 2010. She also secured a deal with Neutrogena as a brand ambassador. All of this combined means that Miranda Cosgrove’s net worth is somewhere above $7 million.

In late 2010, Cosgrove ended her relationship with James Maslow. She continued working on iCarly, released another EP, and another iCarly soundtrack, produced by Dr. Luke. After seven seasons, the show announced it would be ending in late 2012. Miranda Cosgrove was 20 when the show ended.

Even before iCarly was over, Cosgrove was planning her career for afterward. Choosing to focus on acting instead of music, she began attending the University of Southern California in 2012, majoring in film. She returned to voice Margo for Despicable Me 2, and in 2013 starred in Girlfriend in a Coma, a pilot ordered by NBC. The show wasn’t picked up, leaving Cosgrove with the time to focus on school.

What is Miranda Cosgrove Doing Now In 2024?

Miranda has been the host of Mission Unstoppable with Miranda Cosgrove—an informational series that features female innovators such as engineers, codebreakers, zoologists, oceanographers, and astronauts—since 2019. The third season recently wrapped up in May after 22 episodes. It’s currently unknown whether or not it will be renewed for a fourth season.

That’s not all, she also starred in iCarly, a revival series that’s based on the Nickelodeon series of the same name. Premiered on June 17, 2021, on Paramount+, the show also starred Nathan Dress, Jerry Trainer, Jaidyn Triplett, and Laci Mosley. Currently, there are two seasons (the second season recently ended in June). Not only did Miranda play the role of the title character, but she also performed the opening theme, “Leave It All to Me” with Drake Bell, in addition to being an executive producer for the show. For her portrayal of the character, she also earned a Kids’ Choice Award—which she also hosted—for Favorite Female TV Star.

In 2020, she also made a guest appearance in the period sitcom, The Goldbergs. In addition to that, she has been a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Paltrocast with Darren Paltrowitz, The Talk, Entertainment Tonight, and Celebrity Page.

She has also been voicing Margo—the oldest of the three orphan girls in the Despicable Me film series— since 2010. As of 2024, there have been three movies: Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2, and Despicable 3. A fourth installment titled, Despicable Me 4, will also be coming out sometime in 2024. Speaking of which, she also narrated the Minions Holiday Special, which featured the same characters from the films.

Earlier this year, she was also included in Forbes magazine’s “30 Under 30” list.

As for whether or not she’s currently dating, nothing has ever been confirmed as she tends to be very secretive about her personal life, which is understandable given how famous she is.

Want to know what else the actress is up to? Then why not follow her on social media? You can find her on Instagram (@mirandacosgrove) where she has 9.8 million followers. She also tweets regularly on Twitter (@MirandaCosgrove).