Nathan Kress Shares ‘Surreal’ Feeling of Oldest Daughter, 8, Watching “iCarly” Nearly Two Decades After Nickelodeon Hit Premiered (Exclusive)
- - Nathan Kress Shares ‘Surreal’ Feeling of Oldest Daughter, 8, Watching “iCarly” Nearly Two Decades After Nickelodeon Hit Premiered (Exclusive)
Angela AndaloroDecember 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM
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Amanda Edwards/Getty; Lisa Rose/Nickelodeon
Nathan Kress with wife London, son Lincoln, and daughters Evie and Rosie -
Nathan Kress is grateful that fans have followed him from iCarly through his career as its unfolded since
Kress played Freddie Benson on iCarly from 2007 to 2012 and reprised the role in the reprisal, from 2021 to 2023
Kress voices Chuck E. Cheese in the new holiday film, A Chuck E. Cheese Christmas
Nathan Kress feels grateful for the connection he shares with fans.
The actor, 33, says it's "surreal" to realize the fans of iCarly are all grown up and enjoying the show with new generations of fans. Speaking with PEOPLE about his role as Chuck E. Cheese in A Chuck E. Cheese Christmas, he opened up about the special bond that comes with growing up alongside his fans.
"I feel like I belong to a very, very small cadre of actors who are able to say that they truly grew up with their audience, but then also is experiencing kind of growing up again with their own kids because of the fact that now the show is on Netflix and on Paramount Plus, and it's just sort of evergreen on these streaming services," Kress tells PEOPLE.
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"They're just available to everyone at all times. I feel like such a boomer when I'm like, 'Back in my day, we had to wait a whole week for a new episode and we had to sit through commercials and we had to Tivo it.' Now these kids have it so easy. They can just pop it on and say, 'Watch iCarly.' And then boom, there's just a hundred episodes in front of them," he laughs.
Kress says that his experience navigating the world on a day-to-day basis frequently features nods from iCarly fans of all ages.
"It's the teller at the bank or the teacher or the police officer, or the guy in the suit on the airplane next to me — all these people I wouldn't have thought were iCarly fans. But they are and they're all grownups now, just like I am. And I think I exist in this perpetual state of arrested development where I'll never truly feel like an adult."
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The actor, who is a father of three, feels grateful that he "happens to be making a living off of my 'for fun' hobby."
"And the fans have kids! I went to the park the other day with my two-year-old, and I got surrounded by a bunch of 8 to 10-year-olds, and I forgot that now that's my audience too. It's a weird circle-of-life thing I'm finding myself in," he says.
"And now my oldest daughter is just about to turn 8 and she's watching it! It's so weird hearing my prepubescent voice rattling on in the other room. And she's in there just cracking up at jokes that I forgot we ever said," the proud dad notes.
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Kress shares daughters Rosie Carolyn, 7½, and Evie Elise, 4½, and son Lincoln William, 2½, with wife London.
"It's actually been really fun in that way because now it's been so long, there are so many things, especially scenes that I wasn't in that I don't remember those jokes, I'll hear them and they make me laugh too. It's a funny show, I can safely say. And it's fun to be able to almost watch it and be a part of it again through their eyes."
Similarly, Kress is thrilled to be bringing a childhood classic to life by voicing Chuck E. Cheese.
"I had to sit with that for a while and figure out, who is this guy and what's his energy level? What can you bring to it that's got some heart and some character to it? Surprisingly enough, it sort of took a minute and I actually had to come at it from a relatively deep acting process, which again, sounds insane, but I think it actually came across. It's thankfully been facilitated by a very heartfelt, really sweet script and just a good story."
Kress appreciates a children's movie that has something for anybody, and A Chuck E. Cheese Christmas delivers.
"I think it's definitely going to resonate across generations. You've got the slapsticky stuff for the kids, but then you've also got the steady stream of one-liners that are going to fly right over those kids' heads, and those are for the adults," he says.
Catch Kress as Chuck E. Cheese, alongside with Grey DeLisle as Bella Brinca, Nolan North as Jasper Jowls, Kari Wahlgren as Helen Henny, Fred Tatasciore as Munch and Michael Gough as Pasqually in A Chuck E. Cheese Christmas, now streaming on Prime Video and YouTube.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
