Victoria Justice is one of the most talented and dedicated entertainers in Hollywood.
And she really gets a chance to shine in the new comedy-drama "Afterlife of the Party."
In the film, Justice stars as Cassie, a woman who loves the nightlife but finds out the
hard way that there are consequences to partying too hard.
After a particularly dizzying night of fun, Cassie has a terrible accident and wakes up
to find that she's no longer bound to her mortal coil.
"How can I put this?
Yeah, um, you died."
"Stop saying that."
With the help of a sassy guardian angel, Cassie is given just five days to make things right
with the three most important people in her life.
"Afterlife of the Party" gives Justice a chance to show off her comedy and drama skills, so
to celebrate this multi-talented actor, here's a look back at how Victoria Justice went from
Nickelodeon to movie star.
Justice began acting as a young girl, getting her start in commercials.
Following her initial successes, she asked her family to move from their home in Hollywood,
Florida to Hollywood, California.
As she told ABC News: "When I was 11 years old, I'd done over 30
commercials [...] but at that point I was getting older, and I was like, I wanna do
TV and film, and I wanna move out to L.A." Justice was already a fan of some of the other
major kids' television stars that came before her, including "Lizzie McGuire" star Hilary
Duff and Raven-Symoné from "That's So Raven," but she also looked to some of the more classic
icons of the industry for inspiration.
As she told Collider, she was particularly captivated by the career of Barbra Streisand
after being treated to a tape of "Funny Girl" by her mother.
Justice remembered that she was "blown away" by the film and said:
"'I want to be like her.
I want to do that!
I want to sing.
I want to act.
And she's so fabulous and confident.'"
Justice's first television role came in a 2003 episode of "Gilmore Girls," which featured
her as a young "Lord of the Rings"-themed party goer.
"It tastes like diapers."
"It does not taste like diapers."
Then she landed a role on the second episode of "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody."
From there, Justice's career really started catapulting into the big time.
She earned the role of Lola Martinez in the second season of Nickelodeon's hit tween series
"Zoey 101."
Justice told MTV that she had already been a fan of the show.
So when the opportunity came along for her to audition for the role of the newest boarding
school roommate Lola, Justice jumped at it.
Little did she know that things were just getting started with her dazzling screen career.
Justice became a staple of the Nickelodeon stars circuit.
She enjoyed guest roles in series like "iCarly" and "The Troop" and made a major splash with
her musical work in the 2009 special "Spectacular!"
Her status as a multi-hyphenate talent was so impressive that she soon landed her own
series, "Victorious," which debuted in 2010.
The show featured Justice as Tori Vega, an aspiring singer.
The role not only gave Justice the opportunity to command the lead in her own series, but
she also got to show off her skills as a recording artist.
After establishing herself as a premier talent in Nickelodeon shows, Justice also began to
explore original film projects, like the 2010 kids horror film "The Boy Who Cried Werewolf"
and the 2012 teen comedy "Fun Size."
She also nabbed the leading role in the MTV thriller series "Eye Candy," based on an R.L.
Stine novel.
Her post-Nickelodeon career continued to thrive from there, with her playing the title role
in the 2015 dramedy "Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List" and starring as Janet in Fox's 2016
television rendition of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."
And, after taking a few years off of making music to focus on her screen work, Justice
released new singles like "Treat Myself" and "Stay," beginning in 2020.
Returning to music was a seamless transition for Justice because, even though she'd been
busy with her acting gigs, she'd always been creating music in her private life.
And this time around, she told Billboard, she found a lot of freedom in being able to
create the songs that most spoke to her.
And just as Justice was finding a new sound for herself, she also began to explore new
territories with her screen career as well.
With her teen idol days in the rearview, Justice committed to taking on roles that would show
fans new sides of herself.
The 2021 romantic drama film "Trust," for example, featured her as Brooke, a woman in
an ailing marriage who has to grapple with fertility issues and potential infidelity.
Similarly, her work in "Afterlife of the Party" gives her an opportunity to explore some new
themes that Justice finds to be personally appealing.
Her best friend Lisa is one of the key people she must make things right with during her
brief return to Earth.
"Is that why you're here?
Because of what I said?"
"According to…"
"God?"
"Val."
"A woman?
I knew it."
For Justice, the relationship between the two characters was especially satisfying to
explore, as she told Bustle: "I think it's important for young women to
see female friendships being portrayed in a way where women are not just sitting around
talking about men.
Female friendships are so deep and complex and fulfilling in so many other ways."
"Afterlife of the Party" is a major part of Victoria Justice's evolving career path, and
fans of the singer-actor definitely won't want to miss out on this heartwarming movie.
Thanks for watching.
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