The new Netflix romantic comedy Mother of the Bride may not have quite as many celebrities as Jerry Seinfeld’s PopTarts movie, but the cast is nevertheless stacked with several generations of stars. Actor and model Brooke Shields stars as the lead—a high-strung, single mother named Lana who’s forced to take a backseat during the surprise wedding for her influencer daughter, Emma. That daughter is played by none other than Miranda Cosgrove, who shot to fame as a young actor in the 2000s thanks to her roles on the Nickelodeon teen sitcoms Drake & Josh and iCarly. For young millennials and Gen Z, Cosgrove is nothing short of a pop culture icon.
In a recent Decider interview with Shields, the star said that includes her daughters (who are now ages 20 and 18), and, by extension, Shields herself. “The hours and hours that I spent with my girls, watching her,” Shields said. “I had to really readjust, and say to myself, ‘No, this is a young actress. She’s not a little baby. She’s 30. She’s a consummate professional.’ I had to not let myself fangirl.”
In Mother of the Bride, Shields and Cosgrove play a mother and daughter navigating a change in their relationship. Lana must learn to accept that her daughter is now an adult, who doesn’t need to be shielded from life’s messiness in the same way as when she was a child. And Emma must learn that, actually, sometimes mother does know best. It’s hardly reinventing the wheel of on-screen mother-daughter relationships, but the easy chemistry between Shields and Cosgrove is a delight to watch.
“With Miranda, it was just so nice to see a young woman, coming from that world, emerge as her own woman—not stuck in any of the past,” Shields said. “Her talent and her versatility was able to just come through.”
“The world” that Shields alludes to is, of course, the world of Dan Schneider-created teen shows for Nickelodeon, which have been under intense scrutiny following exposé documentary series Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, which accused Schneider of inappropriate behavior, sexual harassment, and cultivating an unsafe environment for his child stars. Those accusations were seemingly backed by iCarly star’s Jenette McCurdy’s explosive memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died. Cosgrove has not yet spoken publicly about the documentary or the accusations agains Schneider.
But it’s good to hear that, according Shields, she’s leaving the past in the past. “She came ready,” Shields said. “She’s one of the most professional people I’ve ever, ever worked with.”