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InsideOSU

Getting to Know Victoria Justice

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

TRANSCRIPT

Adam Hildebrandt: We're here in the Alumni Center with Victoria Justice, who's here to speak on campus, and I wanted to start with that, you're, you're here to to share some some wisdom or, or whatever you're here to share. What, what are you, what are you speaking out? What message are you, do you want to send to these students?

Victoria Justice: I don't know. I mean, I'm just here to talk about my life and my career in the entertainment industry and I hope that we can just have like a real kind of fun, candid conversation. And, you know, I hope in, I think in my 31 years of like, I've acquired a little bit of wisdom and I hope that I can share that with some of the students.

Adam Hildebrandt: You mentioned your career in the industry and that has been a large part of your life. You started very young, started on Gilmore Girls. That, what an entry into into the world of television. What was that like getting that that first experience, especially on a show that was so well known?

Victoria Justice: Oh my gosh, it was crazy. Well, that was my first gig that I booked when I moved to L.A. So, that was my first TV job in L.A. And, I had like under five lines, but I just remember being so excited to have actually booked like a real life TV show was so crazy and so cool to me. And I had my scene was with, Melissa McCarthy. And, yeah, it was just, I knew from that moment on that I just, I loved being on set and I knew that it was something that I could do for a very, very long time. And here I am still, still doing it.

Adam Hildebrandt: You moved across the country, one, one Hollywood to the other. Was that for that purpose? Like, was that to say, "Hey, we, we want to give this a go." What was that move like, cause that's a pretty big step out.

Victoria Justice: Absolutely, it was, it was entirely for that purpose. Yeah, I mean, I'm so lucky because I have two amazing parents who are incredibly supportive and were willing to take a gamble on their kid who loved singing and acting and dancing and it was just like this creative kid. And so, you know, they didn't want me to grow up and and always question, "Well, what if, you know?" And so I'm so grateful to them for really giving me a chance to live out my dreams at, at such a young age. Yeah.

Adam Hildebrandt: And so you got started early and you mentioned singing and dancing. That's you've been involved in many different aspects of of the entertainment industry and and the Arts industry. Do you have one that you prefer over the other at this point? I mean, you've had experience in basically everything by now.

Victoria Justice: I mean, not everything, but, it's hard. I, people always ask me this question, like, which do I prefer more, acting or singing or making music? And it's so hard to choose and I don't think I really can choose because they're, they're two completely different forms of expression for me, but they're both, you know, ways of storytelling that I love. For me, making music is a more personal experience. I've been writing my own music since I was 17. And so I'm like at the, the birth of creation. It's like I'm telling my story and I can be real and vulnerable and say whatever I want, want to say. Whereas with acting, I'm telling someone else's story and bringing, you know, another character's journey to life that really, I mean, there's usually things I can relate to in that character and and certain things that are that are mirrored. But, yeah, I mean, it's just two totally different things, but they're both very cathartic for me, I think, in different ways.

Adam Hildebrandt: Did you find that difficult or challenging because that is it is more personal, it is more directly you as opposed to portraying somebody else on camera?

Victoria Justice: I don't think I find it more difficult, no. I think, for me, in a lot of ways, I think it, I find it really freeing. I think it's very therapeutic for me, a lot, in a lot of ways. I think, you know, whether I'm dealing with a breakup and I want to get that out, it, it helps to heal different emotions and different parts of myself. And it's fun to be able to put anything you're feeling into a song and to put it out into the world and to know that like, most likely, someone else will be able to relate and connect to it and hopefully, hopefully it will make them feel less alone. And I think that's the whole point of anything in the Arts that I do, whether that be acting, making movies or TV or writing songs, is like the idea of connecting people and having people know that they're not alone in something. So connecting in some ways is is easier than ever because of social media. it's also easier than ever to get negative feedback, because of things like social media.

Adam Hildebrandt: So how do you deal with balancing those two things because you, you want to go out and connect with other people, but it's sometimes that you end up catching a stray because of that also?

Victoria Justice: Yeah, I mean, I think there's been a lot of really positive, good feedback and I think that's what I try to focus on. Um, I feel like there are a lot of people out there that are really rooting for me and that feels so nice. It really does. It— I've have fans that have been with me for like years since I was like 12 on the Zoey days who were like on my message board like VictoriaJustice.net that are still here and I'm, you know, I'm so grateful for those people. Um, yeah, of course there's always going to be haters. There's always going to be people that are going to try to drag you down and say mean things about you or whatever, but at the end of the day, like, I don't really care. I try not to pay attention to it. I think the, the positive really outweighs the negative. Love it.

Adam Hildebrandt: Yeah, let's, let's talk a little bit about what inspires you in your writing because you obviously spend time writing your own music, all those sorts of things. What are things that you look at as, as sources of inspiration?

Victoria Justice: So many things, honestly, everything like all of my life experience. It could be, I feel like I'm constantly writing down ideas in my phone, in my notes app of like song titles that I think would be cool or just a concept for a song. I wrote a song recently, based off of three words that I saw written on a bathroom stall, and I was like, "That's a great name for a song. I need to write that song." And I did and I'm, I'm really proud of the song. I think it's really cool. But yeah, most of the time it's drawing inspiration from my own life. A lot of it is having to do with love and relationships and navigating all of that. There's obviously like a lot of source material there. Um, but there, it's just everything, just life in general. You know, I saw, a clip with, Lin-Manuel Miranda who was talking about sometimes the idea pops into your head, whether it be in a bathroom stall or wherever and you kind of have to, you have to give up time to go and do that thing like immediately because it's a passionate thing and it hits you.

Adam Hildebrandt: You obviously got involved in this at a very young age. What are some of the sacrifices that you've had to make because you grew up really in a different world than than a lot of people did?

Victoria Justice: I mean, I've definitely had to make a lot of sacrifices. I mean, I think that there were times when I was younger where, you know, I would want to sleep over a friend's house or do this or that or whatever, but I couldn't because I had, I was working the next day or I had an audition or, you know, those sorts of things. But I think it was never like a burden to me. It was always something that I wanted to do. But I mean, yeah, there's definitely sacrifices along the way for sure. I mean, especially when I was doing Victorious too, I was working a lot, like it was hardcore, really intense. Um, but at the same time, like, I loved it and I wouldn't have rather been doing anything else. So it's just a matter of just trying to keep it all balanced.

Adam Hildebrandt: I read a quote from you that was, I would always also emphasize it's important to have a a balanced life. You also mentioned in there how important you think education is. Where do those values come from? Why are those things important to you?

Victoria Justice: I mean, I think because of my parents. I think I have a very, I come from a very normal middle class upbringing, you know, no one else in my family was in the in the entertainment industry, except for an uncle that I had who was a singer and like a doo-wop group in the '60s that I would like sing with from time to time. Um, but yeah, there were really no ties to the industry. And so my mom is a very smart woman, she's a very strong woman. She's always been very involved in my life. We're best friends, we're very close. And so she, it was always really important to her that I went to normal school, you know, had like a normal friend life and and did all the normal things because although acting and doing all these things were great, I don't think either one of us wanted me to also miss out on having like a normal childhood, adolescent experience and I definitely didn't. School was always really important to me as well and I love school, I love learning like even being here on this college campus. I'm like, oh, this is so cool. This would have been so fun to do, you know, I love a little backpack.

Adam Hildebrandt: Did you have a favorite subject or anything?

Victoria Justice: I've always been... I've always loved English. I, I feel like I naturally gravitated towards like English and reading and writing and spelling. Those are have always been like my strong suits. I'm not a math girl.

Adam Hildebrandt: I suppose that adds up. You need to be able to write well to to do what you do. So, you also had a a very brief foray into voice acting. You may have done other stuff, but the one that stood out to me because I was a fan of the show was Penguins of Madagascar. And I understand that makes me sound a little ridiculous as an adult saying that, but, you, you were in an episode. What was that like going in and doing, you know, you weren't on camera, you weren't writing the the character or the song or anything? What was that like compared to all the other stuff you've done?

Victoria Justice: It was amazing. It was so much fun. I wish I was doing more voiceover work now. It's like the greatest gig ever. You get to show up in sweatpants or whatever. You don't have to have your hair and makeup done. You get in the booth and like bust out your lines and then you get to go home and it's fun. You get to like do a different voice, play a an animal. I don't even know what I played on that show. It was like a squirrel?

Adam Hildebrandt: Badger. 'Cause I went back and watched it. And what struck me about that and I wanted to ask about that, there was two badger characters and a lot of the dialogue was like really quick. Were you alone or were you with the other voice actors?

Victoria Justice: Yeah, alone.

Adam Hildebrandt: Some impressive editing on their part to to get that all done. So we've talked obviously quite a bit about your career. If you were to ever leave the industry — like you're going to be doing this for a long time, you started at an early age — if you were to ever say, "Hey, I want to do something else," yeah, what would you potentially be interested in doing?

Victoria Justice: It's such a hard question because I feel like this is all I've ever known, to be honest. and these are the things that I feel like I'm actually good at, you know. I really love the wellness space of things. I would consider myself a spiritual person, try to meditate, and I just love the idea of like being the best version of myself and the healthiest version of myself. I'm really into working out as well. And so I don't know, maybe there's something that I could do in that realm. I just like the idea of being able to help people in some way and to help make people's lives, better. I think would be awesome.

Adam Hildebrandt: You are, you know, producing music, you're shooting music videos, you're flying around to places to to speak to students. Where do you find the time to do things like meditate and and self-reflect and and do self-improvement type things?

Victoria Justice: Yeah, I mean, it's hard to find the time sometimes. But it's all about like carving it out. If something is important to you, then you have to, you have to make time for it. I usually like to meditate in the mornings, and I work out in the mornings just so I can like start my day off on the right foot. But, yeah, it's challenging sometimes, but it's always is worth it. Taking care of your mental health and your physical well-being is like number one 'cause without that, everything else is going to fall apart for sure.

[Voiceover] To see more interviews like this one, find us on YouTube.

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