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With her new comedy, Fun Size, Victoria Justice moves from total TV teen to mega-glam leading lady.
If you’ve ever wondered about the inside of Victoria Justice‘s closet, know this: It’s kind of a disaster. Packed floor to ceiling with jeans, patterned pants, vintage concert tees, funky bowler hats, boots, and clip-in hair feathers (displayed brightly on an overflowing rack), it would be okay for someone who wasn’t extremely into fashion. But Victoria is a budding style icon, and thus the cramped space in the Los Angeles home where she still lives with her parents and younger sister, Madison, is just not going to cut it.
With trademark self-deprecation, one of Victoria‘s countless charming qualities, she’s the first to point out the area’s deficiencies. “It’s a mess—I’m embarrassed!” the nineteen-year-old says. “I need a bigger one!”
But fear not: This issue will soon be resolved. Victoria—wearing a Lily White neon orange shirt, Paige skinny jeans, Cole, Rood & Haan Co. oxfords, and a feather in her impossibly shiny hair—has just bought a beautiful new home for her parents, and the whole family will be settled into it this fall. “It’s our dream house,” Victoria says. “It’s amazing.” The digs come complete with a pool, a Jacuzzi, and a giant backyard. Also: bigger closets. “I know I’m going to be moving out in a few years, but I’m not ready yet. I’m still nineteen. I have a lot to learn. ”
With more than 2.5 million Twitter followers, a Nickelodeon show created for her (about to begin its final season), a just-wrapped solo concert tour, and her first starring movie role in the comedy Fun Size (which she describes as “Superbad–meets–Adventures in Babysitting”), out this month, Victoria is discovering the perks of being the reigning queen of Young Hollywood.
“It’s pretty surreal,” the Victorious star says. “My number one thing was that if I ever did get successful enough to make it, I wanted to be able to give back to my family.”
Her wild success has been a long time coming: Vic (or “Popsicle Toes,” her mom’s nickname for her because her feet are always cold) grew up in Hollywood, Florida, and started performing at age three, when she sang “My Girl” with her uncle at her sister’s baptism. After doing her first commercial at age eight, she was hooked. “The conditions were awful—long hours, wind, my costume was too big on me. But I loved it,” she remembers. “At a young age, I had to give up a lot of things, like being able to hang out with my friends. But it was okay. In a lot of ways, I wasn’t a normal teenager. I knew my family had moved here for me to pursue this, so I wasn’t about to let them down.” Another extraordinary experience? Her first kiss ever, with Cole Sprouse, happened on-screen, when she was guest-starring on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. She was eleven. Eight years later, she still finds it awkward to get intimate with a total stranger on set. “On my show, I’ve had to kiss one or two people,” she says. “Thirty minutes after meeting them, we have to make out. It’s like, ‘I don’t know what your deal is….’ ” In real life, she’s been linked to some of the hottest stars, from Nicholas Hoult to Ryan Rottman (who was photographed with his hand on her knee at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards in 2011), but since being stalked by the paparazzi could be considered an anti-perk, she chooses to keep this information off the record.
“I hate being so mysterious, but I feel like once you start talking, people want to know more,” she says apologetically. “I don’t want to be the type of person to have my relationships plastered in magazines. The times the paparazzi have gotten pictures of me in my personal life, I’ve been completely freaked out by it, like, How did they know I was here?”
When asked if she is currently smitten with any celebrities, she thinks long and hard. “I have, like, talent crushes on people. I’m a huge Coldplay fan. Chris Martin is a legend. I admire him a lot.”
Considering her crazed work schedule, it’s not as if she has a lot of free time to date. But when she does, Vic says, her ideal boyfriend is motivated, has his own thing going on, and won’t be affected by the business: “I like a guy who’s down-toearth, smart, into film and the arts, and who’s going to bring out the best in me.” She stops herself and playfully scrunches up her face. “I feel like I’m applying on a dating website.”
When she is in a relationship, she strives to maintain a balance between her boyfriend and her friends. “Are guys that important that we need to lose our girlfriends over them and fight with them?” she asks. “As girls, we have to stick together. Even in this industry—it’s so competitive: Who has a better body? Who has better skin? Who’s more talented? At the end of the day, we’re all unique.”
Keeping things authentic and stellar comedic timing, as she proves on her show and in Fun Size (also starring Jane Levy and Thomas McDonell), are two of her strong suits. “I’m not afraid to put myself out there for the sake of comedy,” she says. “I’m not afraid to take a pie in the face. I’m not afraid to look silly and make a fool of myself. It’s kind of thrilling for me.”
To that end, she would be thrilled if her path intersected with that of Lena Dunham, the creator of HBO’s Girls.
“I love that she’s fearless and smart and really relatable,” Vic says. “I love how each character is not perfect. And I love that she’s not afraid for the camera to get all up in her business. I don’t know if I would go as far as she does, but I respect her for it. She’s awesome. I’d love to work with her.”
Another great perk of incredible success? Getting to declare in Teen Vogue with whom you’d love to collaborate.
So, Lena, if you’re reading this, Vic is waiting for your call.
Victoria Justice (born February 19, 1993) is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and dancer. She debuted as an actress at the age of 10 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 show BrainSurge 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 has announced the release of her debut album, which is expected to be released sometime during 2012.
