Victoria Dawn Justice (born February 19, 1993) is an American actress and singer. She debuted as an actress at the age of ten 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 shows BrainSurge and Figure It Out 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 was born in Hollywood, Florida, to Serene and Zack Justice. She has a younger sister named Madison. Justice's father is of English, German, and Irish descent, and her mother is of Puerto Rican origin. She and her family relocated to Hollywood, California, in 2003. In 2005, she auditioned and was accepted into the musical theatre program at Los Angeles' Millikan Performing Arts Academy. Justice has done commercials for companies such as Ralph Lauren, Gap and Guess. She appeared in national commercials for Mervyn's, Peanut Butter Toast Crunch and Ovaltine.
Justice 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 No. 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 played 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. 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 the San Sebastián International Film Festival. During the same year, Justice was awarded a main 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 two 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. Also in 2006, Justice played the supporting role of Holly in the thriller film The Garden. The film was met with negative reviews from critics. Justice focused on seasons three and four of Zoey 101 in 2007 and 2008. Those were the years when it was coming to a close. Justice released a promotional single midway through 2007, while she was still filming Zoey 101. The song was a cover of the Vanessa Carlton song, "A Thousand Miles". May 2, 2008, saw the airing of the final episode of the series. In 2009, she announced plans to guest star on an episode of Nickelodeon's series The Naked Brothers Band. The TV special, titled Valentine Dream Date featured Justice portraying herself. Justice made no plans of going back into the recording studio until 2009, when she starred in the Nickelodeon musical, Spectacular!. Justice's character performs three songs during film. Justice starred alongside Nolan Funk and Simon Curtis in the musical film, which aired on Nickelodeon on February 16, 2009. The film has become one of Nickelodeon's most popular movies, attracting an audience 3.7 million viewers on its premiere night. The film received a generally positive review from several critics, holding a 76% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes as of 2011.
After the success of The Naked Brothers Band special in which Justice guest starred she appeared in another episode, "The Premiere", on April 11, 2009. She later appeared episodes of iCarly, True Jackson, VP, and The Troop, and on the game show BrainSurge. Justice announced in 2009 that she would be working on a thriller film, set for theatrical release. It was later announced the film would feature Dylan Sprouse and Cole Sprouse. Unlike initial plans of a theatrical release, the film had a limited preview release on December 12, 2009, and was returned to post production. Despite this, the film's worldwide release was canceled.
Justice confirmed that she would be receiving her own musical show on Nickelodeon called Victorious, explaining the show's genesis thus: "I was on Zoey 101. When I was 12, Dan Schneider cast me as a new character, Lola Martinez. From there, I worked with him for three years, on three seasons of Zoey 101. And, after that, Dan found out that I could also sing and dance as well as act, so he thought it would be really cool to create a show for me on Nickelodeon, called Victorious." The pilot for the show, which was presented as a special for the series, debuted on March 27, 2010, and received 5.7 million views, making it the second-highest rated premiere for a live-action Nickelodeon series. The original broadcast of this episode was an extended cut, all subsequent airings had various scenes and lines were removed to conform to its time-slot.
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". Several other songs have been featured in the series, including "You're the Reason", "Beggin' on Your Knees" and "Best Friend's Brother". Justice performed her third official single, "Freak the Freak Out", during the Victorious special episode of the same name. 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. In 2011, the cast of iCarly, along with the cast of Victorious starred in a crossover episode, titled iParty with Victorious. This marked the second time Justice has guest starred for iCarly, first as Shelby Marx. Victorious ended on February 2, 2013 due to reaching its 60-episode limit, therefore not having a proper ending.
In a 2010 interview with the Associated Press, she stated that she is recording an album but would 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. Justice released onto iTunes a song from Victorious called "Countdown", on February 18, 2012. It was co-recorded with her co-star Leon Thomas III. The next single she released was on Tuesday, February 28, 2012, with "Take a Hint" being released to iTunes on March 3, 2012. This was her first duet with Victorious co-star Elizabeth Gillies. In October 2012, she revealed she will release her debut album in 2013, stating "It's going to be pop". Justice played the lead role, Wren, in the comedy Fun Size, released on October 26, 2012. The movie also featured stars Johnny Knoxville, Chelsea Handler and Josh Pence.
Justice's debut single, "Gold", was released on June 18, 2013. The single also has a B-side titled "Shake". On October 11, 2013, it was announced that Justice was cast as Lindy Sampson in MTV's Eye Candy, a cyber thriller based on the novel by R. L. Stine. Justice's debut album was originally expected to be released sometime in 2014. However, in August of that year, Billboard revealed that Justice had left Columbia Records, but was recording new music, to be released "next year sometime". Justice reportedly will release her debut album, Shake, some time in 2015. Aside from the lead single "Gold" and its B-side "Shake", two songs have premiered on Justice's YouTube channel, "Caught Up in You" and "Girl Up". "Girl Up" was written by Justice and Toby Gad for the Girl Up movement, which helps girls in developing countries.
Victoria Justice Images
