Victoria Justice

Victoria Dawn Justice (born February 19, 1993 in Hollywood, Florida) is a German-Puerto Rican-American actress, voice actress and singer. She rose to fame on Nickelodeon in the 2000s, starring as Lola Martinez on Zoey 101 (2005–2008) and later Tori Vega on Victorious (2010–2013). Justice has also appeared in the films The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (2010), Fun Size (2012), The First Time (2012) and Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List (2015).[1] In 2015, she starred in the lead role as Lindy Sampson on the MTV television series Eye Candy. In music, Justice has recorded several songs for the soundtracks of her acting projects, including Victorious and the Nickelodeon musical Spectacular!.

Early life
Victoria Dawn Justice was born on February 19, 1993, in Hollywood, Florida, the daughter of Serene Reed and Zack Justice.[2] Her father is of English, German, and Irish descent, while her mother, originally from the Bronx, is of Puerto Ricanancestry.[3][4]

She has a younger half-sister named Madison Grace Reed.[5] She and her family relocated to Hollywood, California in 2003.[6] While filming Victorious, Justice attended Cleveland High School before completing her diploma through a home school program.[4][7]

In 2013, Justice lived with her parents in a Encino Hills home she purchased.[4]

2003–2009: Career beginnings
In 2003, Justice began her acting career when she was 10 years old, making a guest appearance on the Gilmore Girls episode "The Hobbit, the Sofa and Digger Stiles." Justice portrayed Jill No. 2, a walk-on role.[8] After her appearance in the series, her family moved to Los Angeles, when Justice began to pursue a career in acting.

The following year, Justice guest-starred on the second episode of the Disneychannel series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, in which she played a young pageant contestant named Rebecca. Later, Justice was cast as Stella, a young girl who begins seeing visions of Mary Magdalene,[9] in the 2005 drama-thriller Mary. The film debuted at 2005 Venice Film Festival, and was later shown at several other festivals, including the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival, Deauville Film Festival and the San Sebastián International Film Festival.

In 2005, Justice was accepted into the musical theatre program at the Millikan Performing Arts Academy in Los Angeles.[10] She appeared in advertisements for companies such as Ralph Lauren, Gap, Guess, Mervyn's, Peanut Butter Toast Crunch, and Ovaltine.[11]

During the same year, Justice landed a main role in the Nickelodeon series Zoey 101 as Lola Martinez, a new student who is an aspiring actress.[12][13] On landing the role, she said, "I was extremely happy; I was bouncing up and down and screaming. That was a really great moment."[14] Justice's character was introduced in the second season on September 11, 2005. Justice also made a cameo appearance in the R-rated film When Do We Eat?, and played the role of Rose in the Hallmark television film Silver Bells, the latter of which became a Hallmark Hall of Fame film.

In 2006, Justice made a guest appearance on an episode of Everwood in the episode "Enjoy the Ride." 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.[15]

Justice released a cover of "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton[16] in 2007. Zoey 101 ended its run on May 2, 2008. 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.[17]Justice did not record new music until 2009, when she starred in the Nickelodeon musical Spectacular!, in which Justice performs three songs. The film aired on Nickelodeon on February 16, 2009.[18][19] The film became one of Nickelodeon's most popular movies, attracting an audience 3.7 million viewers on its premiere night.[20] The film received generally positive reviews from several critics, holding a 76% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes as of 2011.[21]

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 in episodes of iCarly,[22] True Jackson, VP, The Troop, and 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.[23] 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.[24]

2010–2013: Victorious
Justice confirmed that she would be starring in 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."[25] The pilot for the show debuted on March 27, 2010, and received 5.7 million views, making it the second-highest rated premiere for a live-action Nickelodeon series.[26] The original broadcast of this episode took place following the 2010 Kids' Choice Awards. Justice recorded several songs for the series throughout its run. Justice had the opportunity to share a recording set during the series' recordings, with different young artists who, like her, were in search of artistic possibilities, some of them were Ariana Grande, JC Gonzalez, Leon Thomas III, Matt Bennett, Jake Farrow, Elizabeth Gillies, among others, participating in several seasons dominated by episodes such as The Bird Scene, Tori the Zombie and Survival of the Hottest.

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.[27] The film was a major success for the network, drawing in 5.8 million viewers for the premiere.[28] The film received generally positive reviews from critics. The film currently holds a 69% approval rate on Rotten Tomatoesbased on 24 reviews.[29] Victorious ended its run on February 2, 2013.[25] Justice played the lead role Wren in the comedy Fun Size, released on October 26, 2012.

2013–2015: Continued acting and music
In a 2010 interview with the Associated Press, she stated that she was recording an album, but planned to take her time with the process.[30] In October 2012, she revealed she would release her debut album in 2013.[31] Justice's debut single "Gold" was released on June 18, 2013.[32] In August 2014, Billboardrevealed that Justice had left Columbia Records, but was recording new music to be released in 2015. Two songs have premiered on Justice's YouTube channel, including "Girl Up."[33] "Girl Up" was written by Justice and Toby Gad for the Girl Up movement, which helps girls in developing countries.[34]

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.[35] The series was cancelled after one season. That same year, it was announced that Justice was cast in Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List[36] alongside Pierson Fode. The film had its world premiere at the Outfest Film Festival on July 17, 2015.[36] It was later released on September 18, 2015 through video on demand.[37] Justice was also cast in The Outcasts as Jodie. The film was released on April 14, 2017.[38]

2016–present: New projects
On October 20, 2016, Justice played Janet Weiss, one of the lead roles in The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again.[39] Starring an ensemble cast led by Laverne Cox, the film premiered on the Fox network. It is a tribute[40] to the cult classic 1975 film of the same name and directed by Kenny Ortega, using the original script written by Richard O'Brien and Jim Sharman.

Philanthropy
Justice has taken part in several charity events, supporting charities such as the United Nations Foundation, which benefits numerous causes such as AIDS, Children, Environment, Health, Human Rights and Peace.[41]

On September 30, 2010, Justice announced she would be joining the Charity Campaign Girl Up. When asked about joining, she stated "I'm so excited to become a Champion for Girl Up and to help make a difference for girls who aren't given the same opportunities that most of us take for granted. I know that there are plenty of girls throughout the country who are just like me—ready and motivated to stand up for the rights and well-being of girls in the developing world. I am confident that, together, we will rise to the challenge." Justice joined Girl Up on September 30, 2010, for the campaign's official launch in New York City and went on to support the "Unite for Girls" tour, which traveled to cities across the United States. She visited Girl Up-supported programs in developing countries to observe first-hand the impact the programs can have on girls and communities.[42] During an interview with Seventeen, Justice stated, "I was looking into different charities and hearing these girls in Guatemala and Africa talk about having to walk miles for water and crying because they don't have any money to go to school. It just really broke my heart, so I want to spread the word as much as I can and get other people working together. Before you know it we can actually make a difference."[43]

Influences
Justice's musical influences include Madonna, Britney Spears, Pink, Sara Bareilles, The Jackson 5, The Beatles, Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Hall & Oates, Billy Joel, Carly Simon, Karen Carpenter,[44] Elton John, Alanis Morissette, Carole King and Diana Ross.[45]

Discography
Main articles: Victoria Justice discography and List of songs recorded by Victoria Justice

Tours
Headlining Co-headlining
 * Make It in America Tour (2012)
 * Summer Break Tour (with Big Time Rush) (2013)