Miranda Cosgrove says iCarly revival will address Sam's absence

Somehow we got an iCarly revival and it felt so wonderful to see Carly Shay (Miranda Cosgrove) and other familiar faces in the show's trailer. Plus, we were introduced to newbies like Harper (Laci Mosley) and Millicent (Jaidyn Triplett), who will be joining the characters' shenanigans in the 13-episode series.

This week, EW spoke to the main cast about what fans can expect from their characters in the revival. Of course, Cosgrove addressed the question on everyone's minds: will iCarly address the absence of Carly's best friend Sam Puckett, played in the original series by Jennette McCurdy, who recently revealed she quit acting?

"Definitely, we touch a lot on the whole relationship with Sam and where Sam's at in the pilot episode," she told EW. "And then we mention her a little bit throughout the season, so we'll definitely explain that on the show."

Here's what the rest of the characters are up to in the series:

Carly and Harper

Carly's best friend and roommate, Harper, is adjusting to her new life as the child of a formerly wealthy family. An aspiring stylist, Harper gets to dress Carly in some out-there pieces (like the Björk swan dress we saw in the trailer). The show finds the two having already lived together for a few years; they initially became friends after they ran into each other, Mosley said.

"We have a very fun relationship where I kind of goad her into things and she slowly manipulates me into her schemes," the actress added.

Carly and Harper are in their 20s, and we'll get to watch how their love lives play out. Carly is suddenly single following a breakup with her longtime boyfriend and creative collaborator, which leads to her putting her energy into restarting her web series "iCarly" and going back out on the dating scene.

Confirming what we saw in the trailer with Carly's awkward date, Cosgrove said our protagonist is stuck in a "not so great dating life." For "messy queen" Harper, who is bisexual, Mosley also teased an "interesting and all over the place" dating life.

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Freddie

Carly's friend Freddie Benson (Nathan Kress) is in a "similar boat," as he's fresh off his second divorce when we catch up with him in the series. Cosgrove said the revival is "definitely exploring" Freddie and Carly's romantic tension, which was famously sealed with a kiss in the original show's finale, though the future of their relationship was left up in the air.

Kress said Freddie lost everything in the divorce and plus, he was "an utter failure in business" after his sojourn in tech, and the Silicon Valley start-up world was a bust. He's back living with his mom (Mary Scheer) in the same building as Spencer (Jerry Trainor), Carly, and Harper.

Surprisingly, Freddie's experiences have actually "made him more positive," and Kress said we'll see his character's growth throughout the series. We'll even see Freddie revisit his entrepreneurial "reflexes."

"That drive has never gone away," though when "he gets a taste of doing that again, he goes a little bit too far with it," Kress explained.

Millicent

Also living with Freddie and his mom is his spunky and social media savvy stepdaughter Millicent, whom his ex-wife lets him adopt. Cosgrove said there will be an episode explaining the situation more in-depth.

Triplett said her character and Freddie have "a love-hate relationship," and she will warm up to her new stepfather throughout the show. The actress also described Millicent as "up to something; she's a bit suspicious," as the youngster feels a sense of competition between her and Carly.

"She secretly wants to have her own web show and she secretly wants Carly's fandom and she wants to take her down," Triplett said. "It's like, 'I'll be sweet to you sometimes. But I might manipulate you, Carly.'"

Spencer

Out of everyone, Carly's older brother Spencer ended up the wealthiest. The wacky artist was always a kid at heart, and Trainor revealed that Spencer's success didn't come from his own artistic genius, at least not intentionally.

"He's a moron, okay? An idiot and he lucked into his wealth," he said. "One of his sculptures caught on fire, spontaneously, and people thought it was this powerful statement and they thought he was a genius. And so now he's just like, 'Don't tell anybody.' But yeah, now he has a falcon named Jericho ... When you get money, you get a falcon."

With everybody else dating in the series, don't think Spencer is missing out on the fun. In fact, Trainor said his character goes on "next-level dates," which he hinted at with only one ominous-sounding word: "Titanic." Take from that what you will.

nickelodeon Nathan Kress (Freddie), Miranda Cosgrove (Carly), and Jerry Trainor (Spencer) will reprise their roles in the upcoming 'iCarly' revival series

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"Leave It All to Me," the track heard in the trailer, is the same version used for the Nick series' theme song. Cosgrove said she thought about rerecording it but decided on sticking with the original.

Trainor also gave us a little production update, saying that they have three more episodes to shoot out of the 13 ordered. One thing the actor really wants to get to is finally debuting Spencer's friend Socko, who was only mentioned in the original. And Trainor has his dream casting choice — Charlie Day from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Similarly, Cosgrove said she "definitely" wants to find a part for her pal Olivia Munn, whom she recently featured on her Instagram, along with Amanda Cerny and Esther Povitsky, who are both involved in the series. Cerny (The Babysitter: Killer Queen) appears in an episode, while Povitsky (Dollface) serves as a producer.

If you didn't know that iCarly will now show a more grown-up side of the characters, Spencer drinking beer and saying "damn it" in the trailer probably clued you in. Trainor is excited for the now 20-somethings who grew up watching iCarly to see how the characters have evolved, and teased a mature yet fun, "familiar but new" revival.

"The last couple years have been rough, and we just want to give people some laughs for 30 minutes," he continued.

The first three episodes of iCarly will debut Thursday, June 17, on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Canada, and the following 10 episodes will drop weekly on the platform. The series will premiere in Latin America, the Nordics, and Australia later this summer.

Related content:

• Watch Carly restart her web show in trailer for iCarly revival

• Miranda Cosgrove reveals iCarly premiere date, talks set photos and characters 10 years later

• Everything we know so far about the iCarly revival series: Cast, premiere date, plot, and more