Nickelodeon Presents "Best Player"
It’s “Game On” in Nickelodeon’s New Original Movie “Best Player!” Join in the Fun on Saturday, March 12!
Two of your favorite Nickelodeon stars go head to head in the video game battle of the year in a new, made-for-TV movie, called “Best Player.” “iCarly” stars Jennette McCurdy and Jerry Trainor take on new roles as video gamers who compete for a video game championship title. It’s the journey to the championship that will change their lives forever.
When the story begins, we meet “Quincy” (Trainor) who is a well known video game player that seems to be unbeatable. Known as “Q” in the virtual world, his real life is not as exciting. He lives in his parent’s basement and delivers food by day in order to focus on his video gaming at night.
His perfect bubble is burst when his parents inform him that they are moving to Florida, without him. Forced to face the fact that he will have to provide his own food and shelter, Quincy starts to panic until one of his on-line friends offers a solution. “Q” should enter a tournament for a new game called “Black Hole.” The prize is $175, 500 just enough money to buy his parents house.
Quincy’s great plan is sidelined when a new player named “Prodigy” enters the game and outplays him every time. Determined to find “Prodigy” and take “him” down, Q is shocked when he finds out that “Prodigy” is really a teenage girl named “Chris” (McCurdy). Like Q, Chris hides in the video game world instead of interacting with people her own age and experiencing real life adventures.
By the time the competition actually rolls around, both Chris and Q have learned a few things about life and the joy of living it. Who actually takes home the title? You’ll have to tune in to Nickelodeon on March 12 at 8:00PM (EST) to find out for yourself!
Check out a couple clips from the movie here:
Jennette McCurdy Talks About “Best Player”
She is best known for playing “Sam” on the super popular TV show, “iCarly,” but Jennette McCurdy isn’t putting all of her eggs into one basket. The multi talented teen has been working in the entertainment industry for over ten years and developed her skills on everything from a music video for Faith Hill to guest spots on “Will and Grace,” “Zoey 101” and “Medium.”
Next up for the friendly and hard-working young woman is playing “Chris” in “Best Player.” Described as a shy, teenage girl who sort of hides from the real world by playing video games, we asked Jennette what made her want to take on this role? “I really liked the relevance of it,” she begins sincerely. “The whole message of the movie is about gamers who are literally consumed by video games and towards the end of the film they realize that maybe real life is more rewarding after all than video games or virtual reality. I think that’s something that’s really talked about currently.”
Jennette didn’t have to look too far to find people who were well trained in video game playing to use as research. “Well, growing up with three older brothers, playing video games is inevitable, so that I definitely had already I guess,” she laughs. What else did she do to prepare for the job? “I always re-read the script multiple times. We also had two days of just rehearsal where we had a great deal of time just meeting all of our cast mates and working through the scenes in just a room. [It was] kind of an isolated environment with just the cast members and the director so we were able to kind of get the scenes up and running and on their feet without having all the crew watching and everybody. So that was very helpful.”
She was already very familiar with one cast mate, her “iCarly” co-star, Jerry Trainor. Working with him is always a blast she says, no matter what project is being filmed. “It’s great! I love Jerry so much! He’s hilarious and so nice and down-to-Earth and just very, very, very, smart! Working with him in a different environment was great. We shot the film up in Canada so working in a different country with him was especially great. There’s something bonding about working in another country with a person. You feel like you’re the only ones.”
Given that “Sam” is incredibly outgoing and “Chris” is shy, which one is Jennette more like in real life? “That’s difficult,” she says, pondering the question. “That’s tough. You always have to have obviously some degree of the character in yourself, no matter how small or big that part of you is, you can expand it to play a character. ‘Sam’ has a certain sarcasm to her that I can definitely have some times. She has a really undying loyalty to her friends. I would say that I’m a really loyal person so I have that with ‘Sam’ as well. However, ‘Sam’s’ been to juvie and I haven’t been to juvie so… I have that in common with ‘Chris.’ ‘Chris’ definitely has a softer side and I definitely have that side of me as well. So I think I’m kind of split down the middle.”
“Best Player” boasts some really funny scenes including one that includes a lot of soap suds. Could Jennette pick a favorite out of all of the great scenes? “The crazy suds scene is one of them… the science experiment thing,” she confesses. However, it doesn’t take the top prize. “I think my favorite would have to go to the finale of the whole film, when we’re having that big tournament. Our entire cast was on set together, so that was one time that everyone was there. And of course, all the crew was there. We had tons of big crane shots and dollies and cameras everywhere and a bunch of background players. So the energy was at its peak during that scene.”
When the movie airs, Jennette will be in Plant City, Florida. See, when she’s not working as an actress, she is a full fledged country music singer, signed to the same label as the likes of Keith Urban and Dierks Bentley (Capitol Nashville). She’s very excited about the new music she has been working on lately. “I just went into the studio and was able to cut some songs with Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts producing. That was incredible because I’ve loved Rascal Flatts for so, so long! Working with Jay was seriously better than I could’ve imagined. One of the songs he produced is actually my single, ‘Generation Love,’ which is coming out in April.”
For the next couple of months, the singer/songwriter will be crossing the country on a very special mission. “For all of March and all of April, I’m on a tour called ‘Jennette McCurdy’s Generation Love for St. Jude.” I’m stopping at a bunch of malls throughout the nation. At each malls, there is going to be a video played that describes St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. People may not be familiar with the organization. And then my music video for ‘Generation Love’ is going to play. Then I’m going to come out and perform. The concert is totally free, but afterwards, if you want to give a ten dollar donation, you will get a signed picture and a hardcopy of the single with a bonus track on that. You’ll get a meet and greet pass and all proceeds will go to St. Judes.” Be sure to check Jennette’s schedule to see if she will be in your area. Stop by to say “Hi” and donate to this incredibly worthy cause!
“Best Player” showcases more of Jennette’s acting ability and brings quite a few laughs to the viewer. Take a break and check it out beginning Saturday, March 12.
For more on Jennette, please visit http://www.jennettemccurdy.com or sign up to follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jennettemccurdy. She is definitely one young lady worth watching and hearing!
Check back for more from our interview with Jennette soon!