Jennette McCurdy was so struck by the cinematic magic of Star Wars as a tot that she vowed to venture into an unknown, starry sphere: showbiz. Insistent at age seven, the Orange County native convinced her family she could handle Hollywood -- and the Force was with her, as it had been for her mom, a cancer survivor who set out to help Jennette fulfill her dream.

"I wanted to act and just wouldn't let up. I'm so grateful for the sacrifices my family made. This is the best business in the world," affirms the 15-year-old who aims to work behind the scenes as a writer and director as well and pens screenplays and a monthly magazine for tween girls in her off-hours. The daughter of a homemaker and a kitchen designer, McCurdy snagged success from the get-go, landing the part of Kathie Lee Gifford's obnoxious kid in a Mad TV comedy sketch. She even met her hero, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) himself, while filming Hollywood Homicide.

"Comedy is my favorite," informs the actress who plays Carly's sassy best friend and web show co-host Sam on Nickelodeon's iCarly. Yet her resume bursts with heart-wrenching roles for which she tapped into powerful emotions from her own childhood. For starters she was the little sister of a murderer in CSI; a girl with severe bi-polar disorder on Strong Medicine; an abuse victim on Law & Order: SVU; a kidnapped kid who shoots her captor on Medium, a girl whose mother sells her on Judging Amy and the deserted daughter of a mom with Stockholm's Syndrome in Close to Home.

McCurdy crossed over into comedy to portray the eponymous "Bad Girl" in an episode of TEENick's Zoey 101, a nerd in Malcolm in the Middle and a bossy smart aleck in the Nick TV movie The Last Day of Summer (July 2007). And now, she's elated that her first regular series role offers a change of pace. "Sam is tough and a little rough around the edges but she's nice deep down. She's funny and witty, too, and she thinks really well on her feet. Having three older brothers, I can hold my own against anyone," says McCurdy, noting, "I'm softer than my character."

More creative and tech-savvy than even Sam could imagine, the multi-dimensional ninth grader adeptly runs computer programs including Dream Weaver and MicroSoft Publisher - she designed her own website, www.jennettemccurdy.com , at age 10 - and uses them in writing and self-publishing her Original Girl magazine, for which she hopes to get national distribution. Aside from taking the usual ballet, tap, jazz, singing and piano lessons, she figure skates daily and is coached weekly by Olympic Silver Medalist Diane Deleeuw. McCurdy is a brown belt in karate (Uechi Ryu) -- and a Food Channel devotee who loves to cook and bake.

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