Jerry Trainor reveals he went “nuclear” in his Drake and Josh audition after being told to go bigger—landing the iconic role of Crazy Steve.
Jerry Trainor is opening up about how he landed the fan-favorite role of Crazy Steve on Nickelodeon’s Drake and Josh.
During a panel at GalaxyCon, the actor recalled that his audition for the part was actually a last-minute call — because the original actor hired for the role was let go for not being “crazy enough.”
Trainor had just graduated with a theater degree and was used to being told to “tone it down” during performances.
But when he auditioned, he started off mellow before ramping up the energy. The casting director kept pushing him to go even bigger. Trainor finally said, “Let me stop you right there. I can go nuclear.”
He did — and it worked. His explosive, over-the-top performance landed him the role on the spot. Trainor made his debut as Crazy Steve in Season 2 and went on to appear in eight episodes.
His wild character became a memorable part of the show’s success.
Of course, Trainor later gained even more fame playing Spencer Shay, Carly’s quirky big brother on iCarly, which aired from 2007 to 2012.
As Trainor put it: “The rest is history.”
