Victoria Justice’s Halloween Reunion With Victorious Costar Leon Thomas is Anything But Spooky
Avan Jogia had a reason to freak the freak out in the early days of Victorious.
The 34-year-old revealed that he almost lost his role as school heartthrob Oliver Beck during the first season of the Nickelodeon series—admitting it was a bit of a learning curve to capture the show’s vibe.
“For just not being good,” Avan said during the Feb. 16 episode of The Zach Sang Show. “It was old school, that old Hollywood thing, ‘Yeah kid, you better pick up your lines.’ I’d come from doing drama. I just didn’t understand the rhythm of the medium of multi-camera.”
When it came to the series—which also starred Ariana Grande, Victoria Justice, Leon Thomas and Elizabeth Gillies—Avan simply had a hard time finding his funny.
“It’s just rhythm and I’m in here doing all this internal work,” he explained. “And they’re like ‘You gotta pick it up man. Louder and funnier.’”
He added, “Louder and funnier is the note.”
Avan ultimately proved that he had staying power, though, starring in the series for the entire four-season run, and learning a major lesson in showbiz.
“I did learn valuable lessons on that show about the medium that you’re in,” he said. “And like, I’ve taken that into my life. Know what thing you’re in, know the show that you’re in.”
AARON WARKOV/NICKELODEON
Another part of Victorious that Avan carried with him in life: The love of his castmates.
“It was fun,” he told Zach. “I would say it’s like college. Like you love all of your friends from college. You don’t see them all the time, but you love them all and you think about them. It’s like a very fertile and vital time of your life you’re cheering people on with their successes.”
For Avan, having a front row seat to his friends’ feats—including Leon’s recent Grammy wins—has been one of the highlights of the Victorious friend group.
“Leon right now, we’re so proud, it’s so heartwarming,” he shared. “This is a man who’s like genuinely a musical genius he’s just amazing. He’s that talented. It’s lovely to see somebody that’s dedicated to their craft and what they love and see them get real success. That’s the most heartwarming thing in the world it’s just great.”
As for another relationship, Beck helped Avan form? His romance with his fiancée Halsey—whom he’s been engaged to since 2024—who admitted that she had eyes for him long before they met.
“I did think Beck was cute,” she said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in February 2025. “Sorry.”
Too look at what the cast of Victorious is up to now, keep reading…
AARON WARKOV/NICKELODEON; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Saks Fifth Avenue
Victoria Justice
After co-starring opposite Jamie Lynn Spears in Zoey 101, Justice landed her own show on Nickelodeon highlighting her acting and musical skills as Tori Vega, the new girl at Hollywood Arts High School.
Following the show's run, Justice released several singles as a solo artist and starred in MTV's short-lived thriller Eye Candy in 2015.
That same year, the 27-year-old starred in the buzzy indie Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List as the titular Naomi, and she landed the role of Janet Weiss in Fox's musical event, The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again, which aired in 2016.
Justice dated her Naomi and Ely co-star Pierson Fode for two years, before going on to date Broadway star Reeve Carney, who also starred in Rocky Horror, in 2016. After three years together, the couple quietly split.
AARON WARKOV/NICKELODEON; David Fisher/Shutterstock
Ariana Grande
Immediately following Victorious' cancellation, Grande continued her role as the fan-favorite flighty Cat in Sam & Cat, the crossover spinoff series co-starring iCarly's Jeanette McCurdy. But the popular show ran for just one season, with reports of salary disputes and on-set drama surfacing.
But Grande's star was already on the rise as a solo artist, thanks to her 2013 debut album Yours Truly, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. She followed that up with 2014's My Everything, and 2016's Dangerous Woman, with both albums going platinum.
Since then, the 26-year-old songstress has become one of the most popular and successful recording artists, releasing two more hit albums Sweetener (2018), and Thank U, Next (2019), with the latter shattering streaming records and its first three singles making her the first artist since The Beatles in 1964 to occupy the top three spots of the Billboard Hot 100. Nominated for 11 Grammys, Grande won her first Grammy in 2019 for Best Pop Vocal Album.
Grande's personal life has made consistently made headlines over the years, with the superstar referencing her ex-boyfriends in her hit song "Thank U, Next," including Big Sean, Ricky Alvarez, her one-time fiance Pete Davidson and the late Mac Miller, her rapper beau who died of an overdose in 2018. It was recently reported that Grande is dating real estate agent Dalton Gomez.
Grande has also been open about her struggles with mental health and sharing her trauma following the Manchester bombing in 2017. Following the devastating event that resulted in 22 deaths, Grande co-organized and performed at the One Love Manchester benefit concert to help the family of the victims, raising $13 million.
AARON WARKOV/NICKELODEON; Dave Allocca/StarPix/Shutterstock
Avan Jogia
Jogia played Beck, the coolest and most laidback guy in school and Jade's longtime BF.
Following the Nick series' end, Jogia landed the lead roles in Twisted, a soapy drama for ABC Family (now known as Freeform) that was canceled after one season, and in Spike TV's miniseries Tut as the titular Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Since then, he's also starred in the TV series Ghost Wars and Now Apocalypse.
Saint Ivory, Jogia's band with his brother Ketan Jogia, released their latest album, Mixed Feelings, in February 2020, with Jogia releasing a book of poetry with the same title in September 2019.
Jogia, 28, dated Zoey Deutch for five years before the couple split in 2017, though the remain friends and co-starred in 2019's Zombieland: Double Tap.
AARON WARKOV/NICKELODEON; Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images
Elizabeth Gillies
After breaking out on FX's gritty Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll after leaving Nickelodeon behind, the 26-year-old landed the sought-after lead role in the CW's Dynasty reboot as Fallon Carrington, which she's starred on since 2017.
While she played Tori's goth frenemy Jade, Gillies is still friends with many members of the Victorious cast, appearing in two of Grande's music videos, including playing Lindsay Lohan's Cady in "Thank U, Next"'s Mean Girls homage.
AARON WARKOV/NICKELODEON; Greg Doherty/Getty Images
Leon Thomas III
Thomas played Tori's BFF and co-writer Andre for the show's entire run and showed off his musical talent, often playing several instruments.
After Victorious ended, Thomas mostly shifted his focus to music, becoming a producer with the producing duo The Rascals. He co-produced five songs on Grande's 2013 album, as well as a song on her Christmas album.
He also co-produced Post Malone's 2016 album Stoney and won a Grammy for his producing work on Toni Braxton and Babyface's 2014 R&B album, Love, Marriage & Divorce.
The 26-year-old has also appeared on Fear the Walking Dead and Insecure, as well as popped up on the big screen in 2017's Detroit.
AARON WARKOV/NICKELODEON; Steve Granitz/WireImage
Matt Bennett
After playing Robbie Shapiro for three seasons, Bennett has maintained a close friendship with many of his former co-stars. In 2014, Grande tapped Bennett to play her love interest in her "One Last Time" music video and in 2018 he appeared in the "Thank U, Next" video, helping to recreate the Bring It On teeth-brushing scene.
He's also made appearances on Grey's Anatomy, Shameless, The Big Bang Theory and recurred on Netflix's American Vandal. Bennett, 28, is also a musician, releasing an album in 2016 and lat year, Victorious fans received a special surprise when he and Elizabeth Gillies joined Grande on stage during a concert in Atlanta.
AARON WARKOV/NICKELODEON; Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
Danielle Monet
Monet played Tori's older sister Trini Vega who also attends the arts-centered school, though she's not as talented has her baby sis. Nickelodeon tapped her to host their sketch comedy reality series AwesomenessTV for two years before it ended in 2015, and then had the 31-year-old host their game show Paradise Run from 2016-18. She also appeared in the "Thank U, Next" music video.
After dating for seven years, Monet got engaged to Andrew Gardner in December 2017, with the couple going on to welcome their first child, a son named Gio James, in September 2019.
NICKELODEON; Katrina Barber/Getty Images for SXSW
Michael Eric Reid
Reid recurred throughout Victorious' run as the awkward and slightly stalker-ish Sinjin Van Cleef, who had crushes on basically all of the female characters.
The 27-year-old has since appeared on The Blacklist and in the 2016 film Mamaboy, and performs stand-up comedy in New York City these days.
NICKELODEON; Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic
Eric Lange
The 47-year-old has been acting non-stop since saying goodbye to the role of Erwin Sikowitz, the school's eccentric acting teacher that also appeared on the Sam & Cat spinoff.
Lange has gone on to appear on a long list of hit shows, including Lost, Once Upon a Time and Grey's Anatomy, before going on to star in Netflix's Narcos. He recently recurred on HBO's Perry Mason, Amazon Prime's The Man in the High Castle and Netflix's Unbelievable, and will be seen on the big screen in Antebellum, the highly anticipated horror film from the producers of Get Out.
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App

1 hour ago
2
English (US)