Miranda Cosgrove: Far From "Despicable"

We first noticed pretty, dark-haired teen actress Miranda Cosgrove when she played a bright but controlling student in the very funny Jack Black film School of Rock. That little girl is all grown up now, finishing up 11th grade, records her own rockin' music and stars in Nick's most popular series "iCarly".  Miranda also voices orphan girl Margo in the fun new animated film Despicable Me, hitting theaters the 9th.

We were delighted to have a spirited girl talk with Miranda and learned that, yes, she and her pals do cruise past the houses of guys they like and even famous girls hope for a hot date to the big dance. Has she been "despicable"? Well, she did drop her mom's cell phone into a toilet!   Let's get the latest dish on "Despicable" and "iCarly" too....

TeenHollywood: What is your life like since you became a recognizable star?

Miranda: When I go to the mall, people will come up and talk about “iCarly” or they’ll say, 'I heard a song I like of yours,' or something like that. I still get just as excited as I did, three or four years ago, when I first started the show. I love it. It’s funny when my friends are with me and cute guys come up to me. They get really excited. They introduce themselves.
 
TeenHollywood: Do you get first pick of the cute guys?

Miranda: No, not really. My friends immediately come over and introduce themselves. One of my best friends is really into fashion and she always looks great, so she’s usually the one.
 
TeenHollywood: In Despicable Me, you are the voice of oldest orphan sister Margo. How much are you like your character and how different?

Miranda: I think a big part of the character is that she is really protective of her two little sisters and, in real life, I don’t have any siblings. My best friend has a little sister, so I tried to use her a little bit because she’s always trying to make the right decisions and she’s always helping her sister. So, I just tried to be really authoritative because she has a lot of responsibility on her shoulders, even though she’s really young. She’s like the mom of these two little girls.

I am like Margo because she’s pretty strong in the movie and she’s not afraid to stand up to Gru (her "despicable" stepdad). I’m a little like that. Especially when I was younger, like 10 or 11, I’d always try to get my way, and she does that a lot in the movie.

TeenHollywood: What were your favorite animated movies growing up?

Miranda: I used to watch The Little Mermaid, all the time. I love Ratatouille, Up, Monsters Inc. and Ice Age.

TeenHollywood: Was it hard just recording the voice for Margo without the other actors in the same room?

Miranda: You know, it’s funny because I thought that doing an animated movie was going to be easier than a TV show. But, I think it’s a lot harder.  It was just me in this little sound booth. I got to see pictures of the characters, which helped a lot. I got to see a picture of Gru and the minions and my character, Margo. That helped me to imagine the whole world while I was in the little booth.

The directors helped a lot. They did the animation in Paris, so I’d be talking to them on iChat. There’d be a five second delay to see if they laughed at my line and to see if they liked it. They just said, 'Put everything into it. Just really go crazy and have fun.' It was nice because they let me improv a lot. They’d say, 'Do the line three times the way it’s written, and then just go crazy and do one for yourself.'
 
TeenHollywood: Did you see any of your own gestures in the final film?

Miranda: Yeah, I did. I found out that they film you the entire time you do animation, and they use your hand gestures and facial expressions. When I went to see the movie for the first time, I was like, 'Wow, she does look like me.' She makes a lot of the same expressions I make and does silly things like me.
 
TeenHollywood: Did anything you improvised make it into the movie?

Miranda: Yeah, there’s a scene where I copied Gru’s voice (done by Steve Carell). It was so fun trying to copy that voice because it’s so crazy. The directors in Paris were doing the voice and trying to help me do it. Everyone in the sound booth in L.A. was trying to help me too, so I got to hear everyone’s take on his voice.

TeenHollywood: Margo has to be tough to survive. What did you draw on from your personal life, in playing such a tough cookie?

Miranda: When I was younger, I was a little bit tough. Everybody has their parent that’s a little easier to get to take them places. My dad’s the one that’s easier, out of my parents, so when I was younger, I used to always try to get him to take me to the movies, pick up my friends and let me have parties at my house, and stuff. I used that a little bit, in the scenes when I was going head-to-head with Gru.
 
TeenHollywood: What did you think of Margo’s style? I liked her red high-tops.

Miranda: The first time I saw the character, the number one thing I thought was so cute about her was that she wore those high tops with that little plaid skirt. I just loved that. I think it’s adorable.

TeenHollywood: Did you even met your other "Despicable" castmates yet?

Miranda: I met Jason (Segel) and Steve (Carell) for the first time, two weeks after we finished the movie. I’d never met them. I met them under really weird circumstances. I was supposed to be doing the conga (in a line) and they had these 12 little people dressed up as the Minions in the movie. They did a choreographed dance. We were told to do the conga with them and try to follow along with the dancing. It was just really funny. Steve and Jason were laughing so hard they could barely breathe, and I was just really weirded out, standing there. It was pretty funny.
 
TeenHollywood: Were you surprised that Julie Andrews voiced the mean grandmother? Did you meet her?

Miranda: She’s so sweet. It’s hard to see her as a mean character. She really is convincing. I was really nervous, the first time I went in to record for the movie. She was on her way out. It’s just so strange to be walking down a hall and pass Julie Andrews. She’s like the queen, or something. Her voice is really elegant.
 
TeenHollywood: Did you say anything to her?

Miranda: Yeah. I was a little embarrassed because I love The Princess Diaries, and I also love The Sound of Music and Victor/Victoria. She’s been in these incredible movies, but I told her that I loved her in The Princess Diaries 2, which that’s a great movie, but I should have said Mary Poppins, or something.
 
TeenHollywood: What’s coming up on “iCarly”?

Miranda: We just started the third season and my character, Carly, finally has a bedroom, which I thought was really cool because it’s purple and that is my favorite color. They just made it the dream bedroom. They put a trampoline that you jump on, into the bed. Then, the closet rotates and you pick your outfit on a pad next to it, and then it gives you your outfit. It’s just a really amazing room.
 
TeenHollywood: Sounds amazing. How much freedom do you have to improvise on the show?

Miranda: We do a lot of improv. We usually do 10 takes of every scene, and the last few takes, we’ll just go crazy and do what we want, especially with the web show scenes because they’re so outlandish and weird.
 
TeenHollywood: Is an "iCarly" movie going to happen?

Miranda: They’ve talked about making an “iCarly” movie before, but nothing’s really been finalized. I think it’d be really fun to do it, just because we’ve done every episode in this little studio on Sunset (Blvd.), at Nickelodeon Studios, and we’ve never left. The farthest we’ve ever gotten away was the street behind the studio, so I’d love to get to go on vacation somewhere with the whole cast.

TeenHollywood: How is your music going? Do you also write your songs?

Miranda: I co-wrote the single from my album, “Kissing You.” It’s about a guy that I really, really like, and I was embarrassed to tell him the song was about him. I played him the song, but I didn’t tell him. Eventually, I figured I needed to tell him it’s about him, so I did. He was flattered. I thought he was going to think I was weird.

But, it’s been going really, really well. I got to travel all over and do a little radio tour, which was really fun. I visited a lot of places I’ve never been to before. Now, I think I’m going to go on my first tour in December. We finish up the season of “iCarly” in September, so we’re still figuring it all out, but it’s going to be my first time in a bus with a band, traveling around performing.

TeenHollywood: How do you like the music in the movie?

Miranda: It’s awesome because Pharrell did the music. I love the song that’s in the trailer, that’s a rap song. It’s 'Despicable Me.' I can’t wait to get the soundtrack. I haven’t heard the rest of the songs in the movie. I’m sure it’s going to be great because he did every one.
 
TeenHollywood: Do you go to regular school?

Miranda: I went to regular school until fifth grade, and then I started doing home schooling, which it’s completely different. I have a teacher on set with me and I just work with her, one-on-one. I didn’t want to miss out on prom, so I crashed one of my friend’s proms last year. It was really fun.

TeenHollywood: You are in 11th grade but do you plan on going to senior prom? Have you started thinking about who your date would be?

Miranda: I am still looking for a date, if you know anybody. I don’t want to miss it, for sure. They have a home schooling prom, but I’m not sure how fun that would be because you don’t know anybody. It’s just random people, milling about. I’m probably going to try to go with my friend to her prom. Last time, I got lucky because something happened with her date, at the last minute, and he couldn’t go, so I got to go with her inside of a limo. It was really fun.
 
TeenHollywood: What’s in your iPod?

Miranda: I like LaRue’s “Bulletproof.” I love that song. And then I really like “California Girls” by Katy Perry. My best friend just got a Jeep for graduation because of the song.
 
TeenHollywood: Cool! Will you get in trouble in that Jeep?

Miranda: Yeah, we already have. We’ve been going to the beach a lot and we’ve been driving by a guy she like’s house.
 
TeenHollywood: Been there and done that!  Have you ever done something despicable?

Miranda: Yes, on Mother’s Day I dropped my mom’s cell phone in a toilet. It was by accident. I was going to see a movie and my phone went dead, so I borrowed her phone. I went to the bathroom and I tripped. It was like something out of a TV show or movie. It just flew out of my hand and plopped right in the toilet. I was freaking out because it was Mother’s Day. I knew she’d be upset anyways, but on Mother’s Day? That’s just the worst. My friend and I were going to try to walk to her house and blow dry it out!

TeenHollywood: Who was your main influence to be an actress?

Miranda: I’ve always loved Meryl Streep. My favorite movie is To Kill a Mockingbird. My mom showed me that movie when I was maybe eight or nine. I watched it with her. Then, I just recently read the book for school. I’ve always loved that. I loved the character of Scout.

TeenHollywood: Where do you see your career going next?

Miranda: I’m always reading scripts, and my parents are always reading scripts, too. They help me make all my decisions. I’d love to get to be in a really great film. I guess that’s what everybody wants. I love comedies. I love all the Judd Apatow movies, like Forgetting Sarah Marshall, that Jason’s in. I’d love to get to be in a really funny movie like that because, when I go to the movies with my friends, I love being able to sit there and just crack up.

TeenHollywood: Is college in your future?

Miranda: I want to go to college, for sure. My dad went to USC, and he wants me to go there so bad. I also really like NYU. That’s my dream school. I want to go to college, and I want to keep acting and singing. I love entertaining people and making them laugh. It’s my favorite thing to do.

TeenHollywood: What would you like to study in college?

Miranda: I want to study film. I love Tina Fey. I’ve been watching all the episodes of '30 Rock' recently, and I just think it’s so amazing that she was able to create that show and write it. Mean Girls is another one of my favorite movies, and she wrote that. I’d love to get to be like Tina Fey.