Elizabeth Gillies says she and Victorious co-star Ariana Grande ‘reevaluated’ their experience on the Nickelodeon show after watching Quiet on Set documentary

Elizabeth Gillies reflected on her time on Victorious with Ariana Grande after watching the documentary series Quiet on Set.

The 30-year-old actress said she was “rethinking” her time on the Nickelodeon show — which ran for four seasons from 2010 to 2013 — in which she starred alongside Grande, 31.

“I definitely reevaluated my experience with Ariana on FaceTime,” she said Variety in an interview published Tuesday.

“We looked at it together and later that week or the week after we got back together. We chopped it up, talked about it and reprocessed it together.”

“There was a lot to talk about,” Gillies added of the docuseries, which has highlighted numerous allegations of inappropriate behavior on Nickelodeon shows.

She continued: ‘It’s hard when you look back on something that’s incredibly positive, and then you learn a lot and you re-examine things as an adult through a new lens that kind of reframes or blurs or taints the memories in your mind – maybe that’s fair enough.’

“So it was important to take the time to really look back, reassess and evaluate, and we did that.”

“I’m very lucky that I have such a close bond with my cast, and with Ari, and that we were able to do all that together. We were so supportive of each other, talking to each other, staying in touch,” the actress said.

She was then asked whether child actors should receive better protection.

“I think parents should be able to be where they want to be, when they want to be. I think it’s important to have some kind of guardian, especially when the children are very young. I would assume things are going to be very different now,” she said.

“If they’re not different, I think the responsibility lies with the parents to judge the situation. And sometimes the parents are part of the problem.”

“I think you also have to listen to your child and know what kind of child you have,” she said, adding that the reality of acting can be “exhausting” and “difficult.”

“I wonder if a psychiatrist or psychologist should assess the child and talk to the parents before they give permission to put them on a set or in a show. Because it’s such a huge undertaking and kids often don’t know how big that undertaking is. It can make them feel trapped or pressured.”

“I don’t think it can come from the parents. I think that’s always a recipe for disaster.”

“I think after this year and after this conversation that we’ve all had, there’s going to be a big shift on sets.”

“I was fortunate enough to have really strong, really good parents, and they taught me to speak up. They taught me to go into any situation where I was uncomfortable, to come right out and tell them. [Acting] wasn’t the most important thing. I don’t think that’s true for all child actors. I think some children are afraid to speak out, as you can imagine, because it’s such a difficult thing.’

Last month, Ariana broke her silence in the documentary series Quiet On Set.

The singer and former child star was at the center of the series, which explored disturbing scenes that “sexualized” child stars. Sam & Cat and Victorious actress Grande was filmed putting her hand down her throat, putting her toes in her mouth and talking about being “soaked” at 16 in various scenes from the shows.

Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV has made several allegations against dialogue coach and convicted sex offender Brian Peck and Nickelodeon show creator Dan Schneider — who worked with Grande — sending the television industry into an uproar.

The star, who has been criticized online for not speaking out before, said on Penn Badgley’s podcast Podcrushed: “A lot of people don’t get the support they need to perform at that level at such a young age. And that’s not even talking about the struggles that the survivors who have come forward have to deal with… there are no words to describe how devastating that is to hear.

“I think the environment needs to be made safer when children start behaving. I think therapists are needed and parents need to be free to do whatever they want.”

She added that parents should be allowed everywhere, “not just on children’s TV.”

“I think if someone wants to do this or make music or anything at any level, that means getting on TV or making music on a major label or whatever, [it] should be in the contract.’

Grande said young stars are hyper-focused on adults’ reactions to their performances, creating “a strange pattern where Video Village exploits the importance of making the young artist laugh.”

“You think, ‘Oh shit, I’m doing something great. This is funny, this is good.’”

She said she and her co-stars, including Victoria Justice, Daniella Monet and Leon Thomas, “pushed the boundaries with [their] Humour.’

‘And the insinuations were like, we were told and also convinced that it was the cool differentiation. And I don’t know, I think it all happened so quickly and now I look back at some of the clips I’m like, “That’s… damn, really?”‘

“The stuff that wasn’t approved for the network was sneaked onto our website or whatever it was, and that’s another discovery. But I’m going to go in… I guess I’m angry.”

A source close to the singer added: People: ‘While Ariana’s personal experience as a child actor does not align with those who have spoken out about it, the issues raised recently have allowed her to reflect on her time as a young professional through an adult lens, with a new and different perspective.’

‘As stated in the podcast, Ariana is devastated by the survivor stories that have come forward and is supportive and pushing for more conversations to take place about how to protect young professionals in the sector.’

Several other cast members have previously spoken about their experiences on the show over the years.

Avan Jogia told Teen Vogue in 2023, ‘i don’t look back on [Nickelodeon] with love.’

Meanwhile, Daniella Monet said in a 2022 interview with Insider.