Victorious had quite the run over on Nickelodeon beginning in 2010. Victoria Justice led the series as Tori Vega, a student at Hollywood Arts High School. The show followed Tori and her friends as they completed school assignments and wove through the unusual antics that would ensue. Victorious posted some impressive viewership numbers, amassed a dedicated fanbase and even scored three Primetime Emmy nominations. However, ultimately, the show came to an unceremonious conclusion.
In August of 2012, it was revealed that Victorious would not be getting a proper fourth season. Instead, Nickelodeon split Season 3 of the show in half, technically creating a Season 4 in the process. But still, that wasn’t the official finale fans were hoping for, something addressed in a line of dialogue in the Victorious spin-off series Sam & Cat, which only lasted a single season itself.
The cancelation of a show can be a significant experience at any stage of an actor’s career. While retracing Justice’s steps on Collider Ladies Night, revisiting the end of Victorious was a must, specifically focusing on the experience of going through such a cancelation when you’re an actor on a show and don’t have control over the high-level decisions being made. Here’s what Justice said on the matter:
“Yeah, it definitely was not in my control at all. I had no decision making power there whatsoever. And to be honest, I thought that the show was for sure going another season. There was no doubt in my mind we were gonna go another season. So I was honestly just as shocked as everyone else.”
In addition to that shock, there was also the disappointment of the series not getting a proper finale, something that could have offered the cast and fans a sense of closure. Justice continued:
“Of course I would have loved for our show to have an epic finale because I think that it did deserve that and I think it would have been so epic and really, really fun. But life goes on and I’m just so grateful that so many people did love the show and to this day still watch the show.”
The silver lining to all of this? The end of the show did offer Justice the chance to put that time towards other projects. She was ready to evolve her craft, pursue different types of roles and explore other passions, opportunities that she’s certainly been making the most of ever since.
“I think as an actor, you also get to a certain point where, you know, I was growing up, I was maturing, I was evolving. I think I was 20 at that point, so I was also ready to branch out and try new things and take on some more mature roles and I was exploring music a little bit more at that time. So I think all of us, to be honest, were ready in our own ways to move on and try other things. But I think we all felt that we would have loved a more final finale, but you know, it is all good and it’s a great show and people love it and I’m very proud of it.”
If you’d like to hear more from Justice on her journey from Nickelodeon to her new movie Trust, you can catch our full Collider Ladies Night conversation in the video below: