- "
iCarly " starNathan Kress told Insider that his character is "on an upward trajectory" in season two. - Kress said that Freddie's career will take off and his love life will become "very interesting."
"iCarly" star Nathan Kress said that his character, Freddie Benson, will have a much more optimistic storyline in season two of the revival.
"He is on an upward trajectory," Kress told Insider earlier this week. "You kind of see it at the end of the first season where he's sort of getting his creative legs under him. He's on his way to having a winner of an idea for the first time in a long time."
Kress previously portrayed Freddie, the longtime best friend and tech-savvy friend of protagonist Carly Shay (Miranda Cosgrove), in the original "iCarly" series. The Nickelodeon show lasted for six seasons between 2007 and 2012.
The revival premiered on Paramount+ in June 2021, centered on Carly's life as a 26-year-old influencer relaunching her titular web series with the help of Freddie.
Freddie's season one journey was largely defined by unfortunate circumstances, from two divorces to a failed attempt at entrepreneurship.
Season two, which kicked off on April 8 with two episodes, showed Freddie celebrating the launch of his newly-founded pet therapy app called Kevin.
"We hit the ground running with Freddie and his career sort of taking off," Kress said, adding that in his character's dating life, "things start getting very interesting for him."The season two premiere laid the groundwork for Freddie's romantic complications, as he simultaneously entered a fake relationship with Carly to win back her fans' support online and began a real romance with Pearl, his app's certified animal therapist.
Kress said that including a new love interest for his character allows the show to explore Carly and Freddie's dynamic "from a different lens."
The two characters briefly dated in the original series. But a majority of the time, Freddie's crush was largely unrequited.
"Freddie's never really had a serious girlfriend before, so this is sort of new territory for the 'iCarly' viewer to see," Kress said.
While Cosgrove is 'rooting' for Carly and Freddie to become a couple, Kress is more skeptical
Cosgrove recently told Insider that she's personally rooting for Carly and Freddie to become a couple, but Kress is a bit more skeptical for the time being.
"From the beginning, I've been rooting for whatever their relationship is — whether it's a friendship or a romantic thing," Kress said.
"Their relationship has developed a lot in the last 10 years and the jury's still out on whether they're an ideal romantic relationship," he continued. "I think that the dynamic would have to change substantially because, since the beginning of the original show, it's always been, 'Freddie loves Carly.'"
If a real romantic relationship were to develop, Kress said that it would have to be less one-sided, with Carly coming to the realization that Freddie has consistently been a loyal and supportive person in her life.
"If it's gonna move forward, it's gotta be from a perspective of her sort of opening her eyes to that," he said.Kress continued: "I certainly wouldn't mind it, but I think it would just depend on how Carly reacts to this upcoming season and how it would push her forward in a season three."
Freddie will be subjected to "a lot of roadblocks" this season, he noted but Kress added that he'll also have a greater "sense of purpose" and luck in his life.
"I was very sad to see that Freddie was in such a sorry state in the first season," the actor said. "But I do love that because it gives him a good trajectory. You don't want to have everybody from the show all of a sudden just be in these amazing places where you can't really identify with them."
"I don't mind being the character that had a long way to go as far as getting their life back on track," Kress continued. "He makes a good underdog, I think."
Season two of "iCarly" is currently streaming on Paramount+, with new episodes released every Friday through June 3.