Jordan Peele's latest horror film, True, Jackson VP and was the main star of the Nickelodeon Original Movie Rags.
While Palmer playing the lead in the terrifying Nope is certainly a massive contrast to her role in family-friendly Nickelodeon stories, it's not actually the first time a former Nickelodeon star has made the jump to the horror genre. In fact, it seems to be an occurrence that happens quite frequently.
Erin Sanders - The Call (2020)
Erin Sanders secured a special place in the heart of many Nickelodeon viewers, becoming a longtime staple for many childhoods due to her appearances on two Nick shows. She first played the intelligent yet eccentric Quinn Pensky on all four seasons of Zoey 101, then followed that up with a recurring role as the method actress Camille Roberts in all four seasons of Big Time Rush.
In 202, sanders starred in The Call, which sees a group of friends haunted by the casket phone of a deceased suspected witch.
Miranda Cosgrove - The Intruders (2015)
When all is said and done, Miranda Cosgrove's most famous role will likely be that of Carly Shay in the 2007 sitcom its endlessly quotable 2021 reboot.
In between those two series, she took a dive into the horror genre in 2015, playing the lead role in The Intruders. In the film, Cosgrove portrays a young college student still in mourning her mother's death who tries to uncover the sinister truth behind her 100-year-old home. Of note, the film also starred fellow Nickelodeon alumnus and recent Elvis sensation, Austin Butler.
Jeanette McCurdy - Pet (2016)
Miranda Cosgrove wasn't the only iCarly star to give the horror genre a try, as Jeanette McCurdy did so as well the very next year. While McCurdy's Sam Puckett was responsible for some of the funniest quotes in the original iCarly, the film Pet didn't leave very much room for horror at all.
A twisted psychological thriller, it tells the tale of the vicious mind games that a volatile man and the even-more volatile women he has kidnapped and imprisoned play against one another. McCurdy plays the woman's best friend, and she harbors a dark secret of her own.
Nathan Kress - Tell Me How I Die (2016)
The iCarly trio of course wouldn't be complete without Nathan Kress, who portrays the lovably nerdy Freddy Benson in both the original series and its 2021 revival.
Kress starred in several films between the two series as well, including playing one of the leads in the 2016 horror film Tell Me How I Die. The film follows a group of college students, including Kress's character, who begin receiving premonitions of their own deaths after testing a memory-enhancing drug.
Elizabeth Gillies - Animal (2014)
Nope isn't Keke Palmer's first foray into the world of horror, as she starred as one of the leads alongside Elizabeth Gillies in the 2014 film Animal.
In between playing the marvelously mean Hollywood arts student Jade West in Nickelodeon's Victorious and delivering the iconic quotes of Fallon Carrington on Dynasty, Gillies was one of the several college students fighting for their lives against the bloodthirsty monstrous creatures hunting them.
Avon Jogia - Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City (2021)
Avon Jogia was also one of the main stars of Victorious, and portrayed Jade's boyfriend, Beck. Like Elizabeth Gillies, Beck's actor also transitioned into the horror genre after the show. He recently starred in the 2021 reboot of the Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City.
Jogia portrayed the fan-favorite protagonist of several of the Resident Evil games, Leon S. Kennedy, the rookie cop forced to face the terrors of a zombie outbreak.
Eric Lange - Antebellum (2020)
Not every former Nickelodeon star has to be a teenage actor during their tenure with the company. For example, there is Eric Lange, who portrayed the exceedingly eccentric Hollywood Arts teacher Erwin Sikowitz in Victorious.
The character's bizarre humor and outlandish weirdness lead to some of the show's greatest episodes and made him one of its most beloved characters. Of course, this made it all the more unsettling to see Lange star in the sadistic slavery-based horror film Antebellum.
Alexa Nikolas - Children of the Corn (2009)
Alexa Nikolas portrayed Nicole Bristow, one of Zoey's roommates at PCA boarding school, on the first two seasons of Zoey 101.
When it was time to turn to horror, Nikolas didn't stray far from the themes of young communities, starring the 2009 remake of best film adaptations of a Stephen King short story, the remake was certainly not, currently holding a staggering 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Devon Werkheiser - The Wicked (2013)
Devon Werkheiser was also a multi-time Nickelodeon star, playing the lead role in the Nickelodeon Original Movie Shredderman Rules and more famously playing the main protagonist and narrator Ned Bigby in Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide.
Werkeiser surely wanted a new survival guide when he starred in the 2013 horror film The Wicked. Werkheiser portrays a young teen being hunted by an urban legend that turned out to be all too true, that of a sadistic child-eating witch.
Lindsey Shaw - The Howling: Reborn (2011)
Much like her Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide co-star Devon Workeheiser, Lindsey Shaw took a stab at horror films after the show's completion. No longer Ned's Declassified's Jennifer Mosely, Shaw was now Elina Wynter, one of the lead protagonists of The Howling: Reborn.
The eighth and most recent entry in the werewolf film franchise, The Howling, the film also acted as a reboot of the franchise. However, there have been talks of rebooting the franchise once again, with Netflix showing interest.
