Whatever Happened To The Cast Of Drake & Josh?

The legacy of "Drake & Josh" is an unfortunately complicated one. The children's sitcom — which ran for four seasons from 2004 to 2007 as one of the biggest Nickelodeon hit shows of all time — is today closely associated in popular discourse with systemic abuse against child stars and a litany of disturbing accusations leveled against creator Dan Schneider.

On the other hand, the series is widely remembered as a peak in the golden age of children's television for late-'90s and early-2000s kids, placed alongside "That's So Raven," "Hannah Montana," and "iCarly" in the annals of pop culture history. Much of the series' success is owed to stars Drake Bell and Josh Peck, who played stepbrothers struggling to make the best of their blended family despite their polar opposite personalities. The two men were in their late teens when the show first aired; at nearly 40 years old at the time of writing, their lives and the lives of their castmates have taken winding roads throughout the broader entertainment industry, as each of them navigates unique career paths following the series' end.

Character: Mindy Crenshaw

Despite appearing on just seven episodes of "Drake & Josh," Allison Scagliotti made a lasting impression in her role as Mindy Crenshaw, the academic rival of Josh Nichols. The two fiercely competed with one another in her earliest appearances, though it was eventually revealed they'd been hiding mutual romantic feelings, leading them to date through to the end of the series (we even saw a brief moment between them in the Nickelodeon film "Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh"). She appeared in each of the show's three seasons and was cast when she was just 14 years old in 2004.

Scagliotti continued to pursue other opportunities while recurring on the Nickelodeon series, nabbing guest-starring roles on "Zoey 101," "ER," the Disney Channel Original Movie "Read It and Weep," and, most notably, the WB teen drama "One Tree Hill" (in which she recurred as Abby, a Tree Hill High student who witnessed a violent crime). Following the end of "Drake & Josh," she guest-starred on episodes of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "Party Down," "Mental," and "Smallville" (playing Jayna, one of the Wonder Twins, in the Season 9 episode "Idol") before she landed a series-regular role on the Syfy Network series "Warehouse 13" in 2009. 

Scagliotti played Claudia Donovan, a hacker who broke her way into a job within a secretive government agency charged with protecting the world from mysterious, supernatural artifacts. The series was a hit among science fiction fans, running for five seasons until 2014. While starring in "Warehouse 13," Scagliotti also made appearances on the popular mainstream series "Bones," "Person of Interest," and "Switched at Birth."

In 2015, Scagliotti was cast as a supporting lead character on the Freeform sci-fi thriller "Stitchers," which followed a college student (Emma Ishta) who joined an advanced government homicide task force where investigators enter the memories of witnesses. Scagliotti played the main character's roommate (seen above). "Stitchers" was canceled in 2017 after three seasons, and Scagliotti has since largely guest-starred on series like "Fresh Off the Boat," "The Rookie: Feds," and "The Vampire Diaries," while also directing episodes of the Nickelodeon series "Henry Danger" and "Just Roll with It."

Character: Crazy Steve

Prior to playing Crazy Steve — Josh's unpredictable and often erratic co-worker at the Premiere movie theater — then-27-year-old Jerry Trainor had enjoyed several smaller roles in the most popular projects of the early 2000s, including "ER," "Angel," "Crossing Jordan," and "Donnie Darko." Immediately after "Drake & Josh" ended, Trainor began work on the series' spiritual successor, "iCarly."

"iCarly" ran for six seasons and nearly 100 episodes on Nickelodeon, following the exploits of teenage internet sensation Carly Shay (fellow "Drake & Josh" alum Miranda Cosgrove) as she produced and starred on a popular web series. Trainor had a major series-regular role as Carly's older brother Spencer, an avant-garde sculptor who served as her unconventional but caring legal guardian. When "iCarly" ended in 2012, Trainor was soon after cast as the lead of the Nick sitcom "Wendell and Vinnie," once again playing an immature adult tasked with taking care of a tween — in this case, his character's nephew, played by "Shake It Up" alum Buddy Handleson. The series was canceled after a single season in 2013.

Trainor was also cast as the lead voice actor in the animated Nickelodeon series "T.U.F.F. Puppy," in which he voiced a goofy secret-agent dog in a world of anthropomorphic animals. After several years of one-off guest-starring roles on various series like "Bunk'd," "Henry Danger," and the "iCarly"/"Victorious" spin-off "Sam and Cat" (in which he reprised his role as Crazy Steve), Trainor, Cosgrove, and their co-star Nathan Kress reunited for a reboot of "iCarly" on Paramount+ (pictured above). 

The new series, now made for an adult audience, portrayed Trainor's Spencer Shay as a successful, respected artist. Though the first season was met with positive reviews, two subsequent seasons flew relatively under the radar critically. Dan Schneider's declining public image certainly didn't help generate positive buzz for the series. Since its cancellation in 2023, Trainor has guest-starred on an episode of "Strange Planet" and provided voice work for the animated film "Predator: Killer of Killers."

Character: Helen Dubois

Helen Dubois, Josh and Steve's stern manager at the Premiere, was played by Yvette Nicole Brown in 14 episodes of the series. As she was appearing on "Drake & Josh," Brown was quickly becoming one of the more recognizable bit players on television, giving memorable one-off performances on hit TV shows like "The Office," "That '70s Show," "House," "Malcolm in the Middle," and "Entourage." The trend continued following the Nick series' end with roles in shows like "Boston Legal" and "True Jackson, VP," as well as in popular movies like "Tropic Thunder" and "500 Days of Summer."

This led to Brown getting her first shot at a starring role on a major network sitcom: NBC's "Community." Developed by future "Rick and Morty" creator Dan Harmon, "Community" featured Brown as part of a study group of dysfunctional adults enrolled in the fictional Greendale Community College. Her character, Shirley Bennett, is a former stay-at-home mom trying to salvage her life in the aftermath of her ex-husband's affair. The series ran for six seasons, though Brown departed after Season 5 to take care of her father. In 2024, the actress confirmed she would return for the upcoming "Community" film at Peacock, fulfilling the #SixSeasonsAndAMovie promise.

Post-"Community," Brown continued to guest-star on a staggering number of TV shows while acting in more prominently featured roles. Most notably, she played Dani, the assistant to Matthew Perry's character, on CBS' reboot of "The Odd Couple," and Dina on ABC's short-lived "The Mayor" (seen above). She also voiced Amanda Waller in "DC Superhero Girls" and hosted multiple game shows, including "The Big Fib" and "Cosplay Melee." Additionally, Brown made a noteworthy cameo in "Avengers: Endgame," which was directed by "Community" producers Joe and Anthony Russo. 

As of writing, she is listed in the voice casts of "Zootopia 2" (releasing November 26) and the upcoming "Among Us" TV series.

Character: Walter Nichols

Moving on to the main cast of "Drake & Josh," the first of the show's series regulars we're catching up with is Jonathan Goldstein. The actor — who made his acting debut in the 1989 film "The Jitters" and had appeared on episodes of "The West Wing," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and "Blue's Clues" prior to his casting on the Nickelodeon series — played Josh's biological father Walter, an often-overwhelmed but no less caring parent who did his best to raise both of his sons as best he could.

Goldstein acted in a few roles outside "Drake & Josh" while the series was in production. When it ended, he resumed guest-starring on popular TV shows like "Californication," "Party Down," "Heroes," "Private Practice," "Parks and Recreation," "Grey's Anatomy" (pictured above) and "Criminal Minds." He also made notable appearances on "NCIS," "Lucifer," "The Middle," and "Shameless" in more recent years. In 2014, he played a supporting role in the low-budget comedy "Teacher of the Year," which co-starred Keegan-Michael Key and "The Flash" alum Matt Letscher.

Aside from film and television, Goldstein can be heard in the video games "BioShock 2" and "CSI: NY." His most recent role was in the 2022 film "God Save the Queens," though he has three short films in development.

Character: Audrey Parker-Nichols

After making her professional screen acting debut in the 1984 TV movie "Single Bars, Single Women," Nancy Sullivan worked largely as a guest star on various series (including "The Bold and the Beautiful," the original "Matlock," "Doogie Howser, M.D.," and "Melrose Place") before landing a role as part of the core ensemble of Dan Schneider's sketch comedy series "The Amanda Show" in 1999. In addition to launching both Schneider's and star Amanda Bynes' careers in earnest, the "All That" successor led Sullivan to her role as Drake Parker's grounded biological mother, Audrey Parker-Nichols.

While on "Drake & Josh," Sullivan worked as a voice actor on the little-known Cartoon Network series "Squirrel Boy." Once both series came to an end in 2007, she acted in a handful of projects over the following decade, the most recognizable of which are the video game "World of Final Fantasy" (in which she voiced the Mirage called Serafie) and the "Barbie: Dreamtopia" franchise. Along with Jonathan Goldstein, she continues to embrace her time on "Drake & Josh" both through her social media and through appearances at pop culture conventions. She and Goldstein appear to have remained close in the nearly 20 years since the series ended, even surprising Drake Bell at a concert together in 2024.

Character: Megan Parker

First breaking into Hollywood as part of the young cast of the classic Jack Black musical comedy "School of Rock" back in 2003 (or, technically, as an uncredited voice actor in "Smallville" a couple of years earlier), Miranda Cosgrove was just 11 years old when she was cast in "Drake & Josh." Her character, Megan Parker, was the younger sister of the titular brothers, a certified evil genius capable of ruining their lives (and, in rare cases, saving them from an even larger threat) with one of her elaborate schemes.

Cosgrove stayed busy throughout her time on the series, guest-starring on other Nickelodeon shows like "Zoey 101" and playing supporting roles in family films like "Yours, Mine, and Ours" (alongside her on-screen brother Drake Bell). The same year "Drake & Josh" ended, she became the next big Nick star thanks to her starring role in "iCarly." To this day, it remains her most recognizable work by far, with Cosgrove still gunning for a feature film finale despite the cancellation of the revival at Paramount+.

As she transitioned out of the Nick ecosystem with the end of "iCarly" in 2012, Cosgrove had already landed a prominent role in the "Despicable Me" franchise, voicing Margo, the adopted daughter of Steve Carell's Gru. She returned to the role as recently as 2024 for "Despicable Me 4." In 2016, she landed a starring role on the NBC sitcom "Crowded," which followed two young women (Cosgrove as an astrophysicist, Mia Serafino as an aspiring entertainer) who are forced to move in with their parents (Patrick Warburton and Carrie Preston) due to severe roadblocks in their respective careers. The series was canceled after only one season.

Cosgrove has also branched out into film, including roles in the Netflix films "Mother of the Bride" and "The Wrong Paris." She also made notable guest appearances on episodes of "The Good Wife" and "The Goldbergs."

Character: Drake Parker

Growing up in California, Drake Bell entered the entertainment industry when he was just 8 years old, booking a role in an episode of "Home Improvement" in 1994. His career took off almost immediately, with the young actor being cast in "Jerry Maguire," "The Drew Carey Show," "Seinfeld," and numerous other series and films until he was finally cast as a regular on "The Amanda Show." The Nickelodeon series united him with Nancy Sullivan and, most consequentially, Josh Peck. Just two years after its end, all three of them would star on "Drake & Josh" together, with Bell playing too-cool-for-school, wannabe-rock-star Drake Parker. One could argue the character was loosely based on Bell — aside from the fact that he shared a name with his on-screen persona, Bell, too, was an aspiring musician who wrote and recorded the show's theme song.

Bell devoted much of his time and energy toward nurturing his music career, having released his debut album "Telegraph" to positive reviews in 2005. Its follow-up, 2006's "It's Only Time," wasn't as well-received critically in the U.S., but has been noted online as being Bell's first album to break through in Mexico. In 2014, years after a hard drive with an album's worth of unreleased music went missing (later recovered and released in 2020 as "The Lost Album"), he rallied and released "Ready Steady Go!," which seemingly further cemented his presence in Latin America. 

By 2020, Bell had changed his name to "Drake Campana," pledged to exclusively communicate on social media in Spanish, and in general fully embraced his Mexican fanbase to the point that rumors circulated online that he had chosen to move to Mexico. Though the singer denied having moved, he did apparently spend the majority of his time in the country. Some online have speculated he did so in reaction to several public controversies, most notably pleading guilty to attempted child endangering and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles in 2017. 

Bell denied having moved to Mexico for this reason, instead sharing on Josh Peck's podcast in 2025 that it was simply due to his community leaving his full-time home in Los Angeles. Alternatively, a lyric from Bell's deeply personal and confessional 2024 single "I Kind of Relate" (the music video for which is seen above) reads, "I lost my path so long ago in 2008 / I found love in Mexico / 'Cause no one wants to hear me in the States."

As for Bell's acting career, he starred in Craig Mazin's 2008 "Spider-Man" parody "Superhero Movie," then went on to become the main voice actor for Spider-Man himself in "Ultimate Spider-Man" and a litany of other official Marvel animated projects. In 2016, Bell and Peck reunited for an episode of Peck's sitcom "Grandfathered." Finally, in 2024, Bell made an unexpected appearance in the Investigation Discovery docuseries "Quiet on Set," revealing that he had been the victim of severe and systemic abuse while working on "The Amanda Show."

Character: Josh Nichols

Josh Peck was a bit more of a newcomer to the entertainment world when he was cast on "The Amanda Show," but was nonetheless a confident performer and comedian by the time "Drake & Josh" came around. He arguably anchored the show as Josh Nichols, the book-smart, kind-hearted foil to Drake's rampant, immature self-centeredness. Immediately after the show, Peck was most widely heard voicing the character Eddie in the "Ice Age" animated films, beginning with "Ice Age: The Meltdown" in 2006. In 2012, he landed a prominent role in the star-studded remake of "Red Dawn," which also featured Chris Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. An even more hysterical remake of the 1984 war film, it was a commercial and critical failure.

Peck took to making guest appearances on popular TV shows, including "The Big Bang Theory" and "The Mindy Project," until he was eventually cast as the lead of Fox sitcom "Grandfathered," in which he played the estranged son of a narcissistic restaurateur played by John Stamos. The series was canceled in 2016. As part of a long-since-squashed beef between Peck and Bell, the latter revealed that the former had pitched him on a "Drake & Josh" reboot around this time. 

The new show would have been more adult (not unlike the revival of "iCarly") and was supposedly centered on Mexican stereotypes. Bell, by that point a Mexican music star, says he rejected the idea out of respect for his fans. Throughout this period in the early to mid-2010s, Peck was the voice actor for Casey Jones on the Nickelodeon "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" series.

After several years of smaller roles in low-profile projects, Peck reunited with Stamos for two episodes of "Fuller House." In 2021, he was cast as the lead in a Disney+ sequel series-slash-reboot of the 1989 Tom Hanks comedy "Turner and Hooch," but it was quickly canceled and deleted from the streamer entirely. This was followed by recurring roles on "How I Met Your Father," where Peck played Drew, the love interest of Hilary Duff's protagonist, and the "iCarly" revival, where he played Carly's talent manager, Paul. 

In 2023, Peck was part of the supporting ensemble of Christopher Nolan's Academy Award-winning epic "Oppenheimer" as Manhattan Project physicist Kenneth Bainbridge (pictured above). He has since guested on Season 2 of "The Last of Us," and is slated to return for an "Ice Age" film in 2027. Upon hearing about Bell's abuse through "Quiet on Set," Peck released a statement of support for his friend and former co-star. The two spoke on Peck's podcast "Good Guys" in 2025, opening up together about their respective struggles working as child actors, their falling out, and eventual reconciliation.