Hi, I’m Victoria Justice and this is my last [Applause] [Music] meal. Every person has exactly two things in common. We all got to eat and we’re all going to die. Today’s guest is an actress and singer who you might recognize from Suits LA, Victorious Zoey 101, or perhaps you just watched her stalk Jennifer Aniston in a bathroom stall once. Victoria Justice, welcome to the show. Hi. Hello. Hopefully no one else saw that and was there for that. That was So we bumped into each other outside of the bathroom earlier, but tell me what happened with Jen Aniston. No, I don’t know. That was so funny. I was like 10 um at Kasa Vega in the valley and I had like just moved to LA and so I’d never really seen like celebrities before and I and I saw Jennifer Aniston and she went to the and I was such a 10-year-old weirdo. Like she went to the bathroom and I was like I’m going to go to the bathroom too. Solid. You know what I mean? into just being like such a stalker. And then she’s in the bathroom like peeing and I’m like, “You and Brad make a really cute couple.” And she’s like, “Thank you. Did you peek your head like underneath the Dear God?” No. I Listen, as a 10-year-old, like that’s is a weird shirt. It’s more adorable than weird. Yeah. Yeah. No, but running into celebrities in LA bathrooms though is like a right of passage. And my only story is with former Lakers legend Meta World Peace. He and I both couldn’t figure out how to use the sinks at Foga. And so we both made a pact to just not wash our hands and leave and go back to the buffet. And this is the first time I’ve admitted that to anyone. That’s amazing. Anyways, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for coming on. Thanks for having me. I’m so excited to be here. I’m like genuinely a fan of the show and so I’m like nervous and like all the things and this is just an honor. So, thank you so much for having me. Uh truly the honor is all ours. And you have a fantastic meal planned. Had you thought about your last meal before? I actually have thought about my last meal before. My mom and I were very close. My mom is a super inquisitive person, as am I, but she kind of takes it to the next level. Um, but she’s we’re always asking people like, “What would your last meal be if you were on death row?” Like, “What what would it be?” So, we I I ask other people this question frequently and like occasionally I think about it for myself, but but this was serious. Like, this meal was actually going to be cooked. It was like this is going to be, you know, cemented in in history of what my last meal was going to be. So, I it was a lot of pressure, but I think I think I made some some solid choices. I feel good about it. I think you did good. It encompasses like a lot of different elements of your life and personality. I’m excited to get into it. It definitely does. Yeah. How often do you think about death in general? Um, I don’t think I not I think I think about it in the way of like tomorrow is not promised. So, I think I I try to live every day with like you never know. This could be my last day here. I could get hit by a car, god forbid, you know, like anything could happen to me or any of my loved ones. So, I try to live life in such a way where it’s like, okay, try to make the most out of out of every day. But I don’t necessarily I don’t think I have a ton of anxiety about like the fear of actually dying. I think I more so have have fear about my loved ones dying. Like if anything happened to my mom, like I don’t know. Um that’s it. Have you Have you always been like that? Like really kind of centering other people inside of yourself in that way? I think so. Yeah, I think so. I think like I’m such a familyoriented person and I think I don’t know. I think the concept of death has never paralyzed me per se, but the idea of losing the people that are my support system and that I love so dearly, that terrifies me. Well, I think you have a long way to go until that happens. And also, we can send leftovers home for the family so they can enjoy it. Oh, that’s so nice. Thank you. You ready to eat? I’m ready. Let’s do it. Victoria, for the first course of your final meal on earth, we have the salmon belly sushi with lemon salt. We ground fresh lemon zest into the salt and a little bit of fresh truffle on there as well. And then of course, we have the spicy pineapple margarita with a taheen rim. We’ve actually infused the tequila with the jalapeno fresh. This might be a little bit of a fire breather. I hope you actually get down with the spicy. Oh, I like a little bit of spice. Yeah, absolutely. Smoky spicy. Like that’s my vibe. And I can even see like the actual truffle on the soup. Like this looks amazing. We really did our best. And then we also we believe in hospitality here at the mythical kitchen. So we do have yellowtail with ponzoo and jalapeno as well. I just kind of assumed this is another one of my favorites. Absolutely. To be honest with you, I didn’t want to get too greedy when it came to my last meal. So I was trying to kind of like, you know, be demure about it. Very demir. Very mindful. I might add very mindful. Thank you. Uh but yeah, this is this is amazing. There’s no time for humility. This is your last meal. You’re hurtling into the great unknown. Victoria, eat up. Okay, let’s go for it. Cheers. What a wonderful world this is. You know what I mean? It’s an amazing like mindful practice, like mindful experience. You know what I mean? I can get very heady and anxious. And food is a good way for me to like ground myself. And when I eat, I try to like not have my phone by me and be multitasking. I like to try to actually, you know what I mean? Like be in the experience. I aspire to be that, but instead in practice, uh, yesterday this happened where I just ate a burrito over the trash can in one hand with my phone playing a basketball game on the other hand. So, I kind of want to get to the level that you’re at, and unfortunately, it doesn’t always happen. That’s okay. You know, we’re all a work in progress. Oh, yeah. Oh my god. Did you consider having anything from Anjack Tai’s Taco Tuesday on your last meal? M I didn’t even really think about that to be honest, but I should I mean I love I love Ana Jack Thai’s Taco Tuesday. If you actually I don’t even know that I want to plug it because it’s already so busy. Nothing we could say could make it more popular than other videos. It’s so good. But the taco Tuesday plum that that fish taco is like it’s incredible. Incredible. I did once see you leaving Anna Jackie’s taco Tuesday and this is what happened. And I was sitting here. I know we were talking about stalking. You are stalking me. No, no, no. This is very accidental stalking, but you were leaving and I was like, “Oh my god, that was Victoria Justice.” And then Justin, the owner, comes over and I go, “Yo, that was Victoria Justice.” And he goes, “I know. Did you say anything to her? You’re lying. I swear to God, this happened. I swear to God that this exchange actually happened. This is amazing.” And I tell him, I go, “No, I was starruck.” I was like, “Did you say anything? Shut up. You were not starruck. Dead ass. This is a dead serious conversation that happened.” And I go, “Did you say anything?” And he goes, “No, I was starruck.” And I was like, Justin, Obama ate here last week and I saw a picture of you talking to him and he goes, “Yeah, but that wasn’t Victoria Justice, dude. Oh my god, stop. So, you are more famous than Obama. That is a real conversation that happened between me and Justin Peachet Runy, owner and chef of Anjakai, and I will never forget it.” But we both had the absolute same reaction. I’m wondering, is there any moment other than this? I’m eating all of this, by the way. Eat it, eat it, eat it. I’ve had two slices. No, no, you the last one. Okay, I’ll eat it. Okay. Is there a moment when you realize like your level of fame actually set in? Um, I think like to this day I’m still kind of like I’m famous. What? That doesn’t register to me. I don’t feel like a famous person. I don’t even really think I’m that famous. I mean, I think to like a certain audience of people I guess I am, you know. Um, I think I have like a very manageable level of fame. Do you know what I mean? I tr I’ve I’ve sat next to a lot of people who are like I realized that if I was less famous, I would actually be a lot happier in life. Yeah. Um, but that’s the thing that I’ve always thought about in terms of at least the trajectory that you’re going on. You played the OC Fair, I believe, for your first show ever, 2012. I did. I think it was one of the few OC fairs that I skipped. I did love it. Was a big fan of their of their competition. It wasn’t because of you. I see how it is. It’s because they didn’t have the fried Oreo funnel cake that year. But yet you’re stalking me at Anjaxi. You couldn’t you couldn’t come up to the valley. You had to come back. Who could drive down the five and suffer that traffic anymore? But no, how nerve-wracking was that first experience? And how have you like grown in your performing since then? I grew up in a performing arts middle school. So I I was performing there, doing musical theater and whatnot, but I had never, you know, then I started recording and writing songs when I was 16. I wrote songs that were on the show, performed on the show, that sort of thing. But I had never really ever done my own like headlining show and performed in front of thousands of people like that. So that was my first time ever doing that. And I think it ended up happening. The whole thing was such a fluke. I think Miranda Cosgrove, I think, was initially slated to do it, but she had broke her ankle because her her tour bus like crashed or something. My god. So she couldn’t do it. So, they were looking for for someone else to jump in and I was like, “Hey, here I am.” Um, and I really had no idea if I could do it, but I’m really proud of myself. I was very nervous, but it was it ended up going so well. And I I feel like after that, I was like, damn, okay. A, that was really fun and I loved it and I had such a great time. And B, I was like, I really showed myself that I can if I if I put my mind to something, like I can do it. I can do scary scary things. Yeah. Yeah. That was a really special show. My great grandma was also in the audience. My great grandma Libby who died at 97. Um, was that the first time that she had like seen you perform in front of That was the first time she’d ever Yeah. seen anything. How special is that to have her? It was very special. Yeah. she’s an immigrant from Puerto Rico and to see, you know, her great-g grandanddaughter doing something like it was very it was very special and very cool. There’s a really great interview clip of you from several several years ago where you talk very sweetly about how much you you want your music career to work out because your family uprooted and moved to Los Angeles for you. You want to buy your mom the house and and you get like kind of choked up talking about your sister. I remember that interview. I think Yeah, it’s such a beautiful moment. But what gets you choked up thinking about your family like that? I mean, I think I just feel so incredibly lucky to have a family that supports me in the way that they do. I mean, my support system is is truly incredible. And I feel like there’s not many parents that, you know, would believe in their 8-year-old kids crazy dreams enough to be like, “Okay, let’s uproot our lives in Hollywood, Florida, which is where I’m initially from, and take a chance and see if my kid can make it in show business in in Los Angeles.” You know what I mean? like at 10 or 11. And so they’re just the best ever. They’re just the greatest people. They’re they’re grounded. They’re normal. My parents are so normal. They’re normal middle- class people. They’re not They give it to me straight. They’re not going to like they’re not Yes. people. My mom’s like to an a fault like too blunt with me sometimes. I’m like, can you just lie to me maybe a little because this is I’d love if you just sugarcoated this a little bit. She’s very blunt, but it’s, you know, it’s good. No, that’s beautiful. Yeah. Should we Have you gone in on this? Oh, I have. I didn’t choose you. I was so rude about that. Oh, that’s delicious. Mhm. It’s so good. Tell me about your new music, cuz you took a 7-year break from releasing music, which is a hell of a long time to take a break from something that you seem to very, very much deeply love. Yeah, a long time. What was behind that break? I was signed to a record label when I was younger, like post during Victorious and post Victorious. And I think at the end there, it just that whole situation just got a little wonky and wasn’t what I wanted it to be. I think creatively we weren’t really I I write all my own music. like I co-write, but I like to be involved. I want I want my music to actually reflect a part of who I am and and and what I have to say and, you know, my truth in some way or another, you know, and not just have songs handed to me. And not that there’s anything wrong with that, but No, talk your dude. Talk here. It’s your last. And they just weren’t really They were kind of wanted me to put out this one song that to me just sounded like any kind of girl group. It just felt generic to me. And so that was kind of a thing. But they were like, “Just put your voice on it. Like, let’s just see how you sound.” And I was like, “If I do this, you’re you’re obviously going to be like, “That’s the one. We have to put it out.” And that’s exactly what happened. And then they didn’t even really end up spending, you know, any marketing money or doing anything to promote it. So, I was just kind of in a weird place where my ANR person was leaving. I had no one at the label that was championing me. So, that situation kind of fell apart. I asked to be let out of my deal. And then after that, I had an opportunity to do a show for MTV called I Candy. Um, which was a total departure from what I’ve been doing. It was like a dark kind of thing. Oh, I watch it. The hacker Victoria Justice hacker Victoria Justice. Um, so that was really fun. And I just decided to kind of focus on acting a little bit more and just kind of take a break. You know, the music industry is it’s a tough it’s a tough biz. Oh. When is the music industry ever screwed anyone over? Who’s ever heard of that before? What a great idea. Yeah. But so much of your new music looking at like raw and even, you know, treat myself down. It’s like seems like you reclaiming a sense of self. Yeah. I think it’s been a cool way to kind of just I can do whatever I want now. I can put out music whenever I want. I can say whatever I want. So that’s been liberating and cool, but also hard. Why does the song She Used to be Mine by Sarah Bareilles make you cry? Oh my god, I love that song. You really do. Like I’ve watched the show before and people are always shocked at like the information that you find out and you really do have some deep cuts in there. Like you really you really do know the the nitty-gritty info. But somehow people never think that I’m going to know anything about them when they sit here, which is the weird thing to me. No, but it because it’s like things that in any other interview I’ve done, no one would ever bring that up or know that. And that just feels like such a personal thing to me because I have a specific memory of singing that song. And sometimes it just the those lyrics just hit me and it feels so relatable that I just like I started break I started to cry like I I don’t know it just really affects me that song. I think there was this younger carefree version of myself that once existed and she’s still in me absolutely and comes out from time to time. But I think when I sing that song sometimes it just makes me reflect on like a version of myself that I feel very nostalgic about that. I think I I don’t know. It’s not that she’s gone but she’s not I’ve morphed into a new more complex version of me but that version was more simple in a sense and I think I miss parts of that. And either way we can’t turn back time. So hurdle for us. Cheers to that. Pineapple margs along the way, Victoria. For for course number two of your final meal, we have the tostones with the garlic sauce. Then we have the the frioles and then the aros gondul. By the way, I love that you have that it’s gone because I was going to mention that, but I was like, I don’t want to make it too complicated. But this is like authentic like Puerto Rican. You’re more famous than Obama. You got to start like you can demand the things that you want, you know? And then we have the whole perneal roast right here. We thought about breaking it down and shredding it. And then we’re like, “No, we need to serve the whole thing with the machete. Can I can I slice you off some? Do you want the skin?” Oh my gosh. Yeah. Sure. I’ll like kind of just like shield your eyes real quick. Sure. Oh yeah. Thank you. Wow. You got to hack through the skin. There we go. Oh, that is beautiful. So, this is a 4-day marinade in mo. Little bit of sour orange right there. And then a whole lot of garlic, tons of fresh herbs. Uh roasted it for about 8 hours and then popped it in the broiler to get that skin nice and crispy. You can actually see the marinade inside of it. Oh my gosh, this is unreal. This truly is like one of my favorite meals ever. I love Latin food so much. And like growing up in Florida, I feel like I had access to a lot more like Cuban food where you can get, you know, this kind of thing and Puerto Rican food. But in LA, it’s mostly Mexican Mexican food, which is great, but there’s not as many Puerto Rican or Cuban restaurants, you know. So So little like islander cuisine, like a little Caribbean. Mhm. Mhm. That’s so good. We harmonized ours. We did. We realized that was incredible. Toon are truly one of the world’s great foods. This is just a whipped garlic sauce right here. Most people don’t know about toonis. They know about plantins. Plantins are much more commonly I love that you pronounce it plantins by the way. That’s like such a unique islander thing too, you know, but but a lot of people don’t know about tostanis. And these are tostanas are actually my my favorite. I like them more than than plantins. I want to talk about your newest movie that you have out California king. Your first line on screen is shitbags sucking piece of son of a Victoria. How much have you enjoyed leaning in to most adult roles, especially after, you know, being on kids TV for such a long time? I’ve loved it. It’s so much fun. A part of that maybe kind of always sticks with you of growing up and having to knowing that you’re carrying like a a a brand on your back basically like a huge company like Nickelodeon and and making sure you knowing that you are being viewed as a role model to a lot of young people and being on the cover of teen magazines and whatnot and that sort of thing like h having that sort of pressure and wanting to live up to those standards and carry all that. Well, I think never kind of like leaves you. I think there’s always a part of me still like even sometimes when I curse where I’m like, is that okay? You know what I mean? I don’t know. Not not really though. Like I feel like it’s kind of been like a natural progression as well. I ended the show when I was 20 and so I was very much like an adult at that point and ready to kind of also just move on and do more adult things, you Yeah, I want to go back to when Victorious started because you kind of got your start on Zoe 101 and then got to like basically pitch your own show from scratch based off your own life experiences, which I did. Yeah. One, at that age is like really rad to just have that pitch ready to go. Then two, I imagine puts a hell of a lot of pressure on you. When you launched Victorious, what were your like expectations for your life and career at that point? You must have had tons of adults telling you that you’re going to be world famous, you’re going to be making $20 million in a movie. And I can’t imagine internalizing that, especially as like a young person. I don’t think I put a ton of pressure and expectations on myself. I think I was still so young. You know, I was 17 when the show went into production. I think really, you know, I was balancing like being given this incredible opportunity and being given my own show at that age is like winning the lottery, right? You know, like I grew up watching, you know, Lizzie Magcguire and people like Hillary Duff and Amanda Bines and and now it was like that I was getting given that kind of opportunity which was mindblowing and insane. And so I think I was just so grateful to to be there and to have that chance and um work and make movies. I don’t think I ever really thought I I think I was also just like balancing being a normal teenager and like Sure. balancing it all, you know? It was kind of a crazy work schedule. I was flying all around the world like promoting the show and doing this and recording and learning choreography and then filming and then filming a movie and it was pretty non-stop. So I don’t think I just kind of kept going. I was just in go mode. There’s a Tik Tok that was posted very recently that has gotten several million views that said, “In another universe, we didn’t fail Victoria Justice as a society. She became the pop star she deserved to be.” And that seems to be a really a big prevailing sentiment among fans that you dealt with so much at the end of Victorious when you were such a young person. Yeah. And that there’s an alternate world in which you are having platinum album after platinum album. It’s very sweet. It is very sweet. It’s very sweet. Any part of you yearn for that or do you think maybe you dodged a bullet in a certain way? Because it seems like you are living such an awesome life. I am living I’m I really am living an awesome life. I love my life. I’m so grateful for my life. I have incredible opportunities. I’m I just feel so grateful to be able to wake I feel I really am living the life of my dreams. You know, not everyone can say that and that that’s such a blessing in and of itself. Um, I still haven’t given up on that dream of like putting out my dream album and like working with some of my dream collaborators and whatnot. It It’s very nice that people say that. That’s that’s very sweet. There was like such a a time for for so long on the internet where I feel like people hated me. I kind of didn’t know that until I went back and researched. It was like such a It was a thing, but it can really be a ruthless place. And it’s really like mob mentality is is such a a real thing. What do you think was behind that hate train? I don’t know. I mean, I think it was the media in the sense of like I don’t know. There was like that whole I’m sure you’ve done the research of like a meme thing of like from when I was like 16 or 17 years old or something and I didn’t I don’t know whatever that whole thing is that the we all sing. Yes. That and saying it’s three words spoken by a teenager. Yeah. I was like s and it wasn’t it and first of all it’s factual. We did all sing. Okay. What do you want from me? Speaking of the facts. Um, no, but it was still in this whole narrative because I think the the media outlet that put it out put this whole spin on it. Yeah. Um, and man, I don’t know, it must have been a really slow news day for them because I swear to God that I think when they published that, I don’t even know how many years later it was. I was like way into my 20s from an interview I did when I was like 16 or something. And then it’s like I got all this hate. So much hate. I’m like, what did I do? What did I do? I’m sitting here living my life, just trying to like work, live. I don’t know. It was wild. I got so much hate, dude. I got like death threats. I felt bad for my mom cuz she was looking at all the stuff online and she was like, she was freaking out. And I’m always kind of like, h whatever. Like, people are going to say what they’re going to say. But yeah, it it really took on a life of its own and became a thing. And now I think it’s like now it’s like funny. And I don’t care. I’m in on the joke. You know, I even say it myself all the time. like, you know, whatever. I I don’t care. But yeah, it was a it was definitely a it was definitely a thing where it was like the internet hates Victoria Justice right now. And your mom’s ready to pick up a spear and start hitting the streets. She was ready. Taking bodies. She was ready. Yeah. Victoria, for course number three of your final meal, we have the world’s most beautiful loaded baked potato. It’s actually stunning. Butter, chives, cheese, bacon bits, the whole works. We got the 10piece original wing from KFC with KFC kleslaw. The most underrated side dish in the entire world. Oh my god, it’s the best. And then the IBC cream soda. The best. Dig in. Uh I mean, cheers. This is like This is good for the soul. This meal. When’s the last time you had one of these? Oh man, it’s been a long time since I’ve had one of these. And these remind me of my dad, actually. My parents got divorced when I was really little, like a baby. But I love my dad and I see him from time to time. And whenever he’s like a southern man. He was like born in West Virginia, raised in Alabama. So I feel like all of this food like my mom my mom is always making fun of me telling me that I have like hillbilly taste because I think I inherited all this from him. I just love it. If hillbilly taste is wrong, I don’t want to be right. Right. That’s what I’m saying. The KFC kleslaw is definitely the most aggressive pick in this entire meal because you think people hate this. I love it. I I hate KFC klelaw. Show yourselves. I know one of you does. I know one of you does. No comments. Be brave enough to show yourself. I do understand the criticism. If you look at it, it’s you could almost drink it like a shot if you wanted to. What’s wrong with that? I listen, I’m not saying it. I love it. What do you do with the leftover liquid at the bottom of the kleslaw jug? Um, I actually use it. I put it on my skin. It’s actually really good. I was gonna ask for your skinare routine. Full glow. No. Korean skinare. Can you imagine if that was my skinare? That would be crazy. And what about the loaded baked potato? This might be a first that we’ve had on the show in like 55 episodes. Okay, so when I was younger, I loved TGI Friday’s potato skins. And so I feel like this is like the classier adult version of that kind of. But I’m telling you, I really do have kind of like weird like hillbilly southern man taste. I don’t know. Ever since I was little, I would like beg my mom to buy me hungry man dinners for like dinner out of one of the like fried chicken. Yeah. I don’t know. It’s just I my taste buds love it. I’m imagining you going home and just like sitting down with a Miller genuine draft, you know, in like a dirty white tank top. Got a Ford trucker hat. Hungry man. I love that for you so much. Mhm. It’s the side of me no one ever gets to see. It’s the real me. I ask you about a movie you did called Afterlife of the Party. Oh, yeah. You played a dead person. I did. Yeah. That was fun. You’re a 25-year-old party girl has to sort of reckon with her her selfish life. Yes. To then get into heaven. Did any part of that make you like think about mortality very seriously? Cuz it does actually get very serious and sweet at the end. And then there’s a lot of comedy of you hitting your head on a lot of comedy. I literally die by hitting my head on a toilet seat. Yeah. how I want to go and how I’m likely going to go. I’m always so paranoid. I tell my parents every night I have to say I love you to them, to my sister. Because and I don’t ever like to go to bed angry. I don’t, you know, I get in the worst fight with someone, but I don’t ever want to go to bed without patching things up or letting them know like how much I care about them because what if that’s the end? That’s not how I want to go out. I don’t want any bad vibes going into the afterlife with me, you know? It’s so awesome to see like your mom’s direct connection into the way that you think about the world. And you even like credit her in the song Hate the World Without You about your sister Maddie. Which is so very sweet. And um song I think you once said I believe you wrote this down in a beautiful book of poetry. But um did I This is a joke. Okay, go for it. You ruined the setup. Go for it. Go for it. I was like, I don’t think I’ve ever just songwriting is like farting. When you push too hard, it’s most likely And there’s something about It’s true. It’s true. And there’s something about that song that seemed to like flow so effortlessly out of you. Yeah. Songwriting honestly kind of should be like a fart. Like it like really it No, it’s true. Like if you’re really like banging your head against the wall like trying to make it work, trying to find like the right concept, trying to find it’s just not it usually just doesn’t end up being it. Mhm. You know, like my song Raw that I wrote, we wrote that in like a matter of hours. We wrote it in one night and laid down a scratch demo in in one night. And that’s how a lot of the a lot of my songs end up being written. I mean, some of them take a little longer. You filmed Afterlife for the Party in South Africa. I did. That was so cool. Did was it just in Cape Town or did you like go into different parts? Um we were staying in Stellin Bosch which is wine country but then mostly filmed in Cape Town. Yeah. Oh my gosh. And South Africa so incredible and the people South African people are amazing. They really I remember just like having the takeaway of like they know how to live life. They’re they were carefree and they were enjoying the little moments. I remember there were moments of us just hanging out by the pool and our South African crew cuz we were all living together at a hotel like in a bubble. So, it was the first time I’d ever really gotten to know like my cast and crew that well because we were having breakfast together every morning. Like we were all isolated together in this bubble at this hotel with no one else there except us. Um but yeah, just playing guitar and singing. They were just like lovely people. Just I love love South Africa. I I’ve also been my family’s actually South African I think. Oh, really? So much. Yeah. Yeah. And so I I went to Stell and Bosch drank all their penotage that they’re so very proud of cuz they invented that grape in South Africa basically. M. Um, but I ditto with the people and how they live life. And I think so much of that is because that country has been through so much Some of the most intense like world history that you can possibly imagine. And so now there’s a little bit of this kind of less a fair attitude where they’re like, “Hey, there’s a lot of problems in the world. There’s a lot of problems here. We’re going to have a good time. We’re going to spend time outdoors. We’re going to spend time with family. We’re going to eat good food.” I know. I love it. Listen to loud ass um I’m a piano bass music, which absolutely freaking love it. Did you learn anything about yourself coming face to face with a lion? I don’t even know. That was an unreal experience. We we were at this um it was like a wildlife preserve kind of place and truly there was just a fence between me and these lions. Like I could have touched the lions. It was insane. They were so close to me. And I think I mean I think what I learned is that like I don’t ever want to like not be behind a fence with like a male lion because hearing they fed the lion in front of us and hearing like the deep growl that came from that thing was so until you hear that in person it’s unlike anything I’ve ever It’s unreal. It is unreal. I feel like we’ve now jinxed it and you’re going to get eaten by a line. But also hear me out. That’s not how I want to go out. How do you want to go out? I want it to be like I don’t want it to be I want it to be celebratory. I want like my hopefully my kids at that point, my my loved ones, um my sister, my husband, you know, whoever. I want to be in like a room full of like lots of light. I want like haulotes to be playing, you know? I just want like good good happy vibes and I just want to like be surrounded by love and like holding all their hands and like maybe we’re all like singing together or something truly. And then I just like take my last breath and that’s it. And then boom, the lion jumps into the Yeah, I think that’s beautiful. And I I hope you get that without the lion. Victoria, for your final meal on this earth, yes, we have the peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream. freshly baked ice cream melting on top. And then we have an entire dozen crispy cream donuts. And per your instructions, not the ones from the grocery store, but no, the ones fresh from the actual crispy cream location itself. You watch it get dipped through the glaze. Oh my gosh. Has to be because they’re just much fluffier and they just kind of melt in your mouth. And the grocery store ones do not do it justice. 100%. Justice. That’s your name. Wait, but also, have you ever seen anything more beautiful in your life? Look at that. It’s incredible. Where Where should we start? I This is on you. This is your last I don’t want to start here because this is like really warm and we’ve got the whole warm cool situation. So, I’m going to dig in here. If you weren’t here, though, I know what I would be doing. What would you be doing? So, I would take a donut and I would scoop this on top of a donut and then like the peach cobbler. Yeah. Well, peach cobbler with a little bit of the ice cream sauceing it. Yeah. Yeah. Um and then might even put another donut on top. Oh my god, that’s insane. Thank you. I am a revolutionary. That is actually insane. Oh my gosh. Mhm. It’s so comforting. You said once in an interview that you tend to have really dark dreams. I was wondering if you could elaborate on that. I’m not like a dream interpreter per se, but I’m like a little bit of an amateur dream interpreter. I think recently I had a dream that I was on some island and like we were being attacked by killer whales and I just remember and they were like really like vicious and like trying to get us and they would like jump up onto like the area that we were on and just like keep like trying to grab us and drag us in and they got one of my friends and then like the the the whale swallowed my friend and it was like one of those dreams that was so vivid that I truly like woke up the next morning and I was like is Nia, okay? Like, is she in the belly of a whale right now? It was It was so It was just It was so vivid. My dreams have really been so bizarre and vivid. I don’t know. One time I was going to a Taylor Swift concert and cars were falling from the sky and trying to and like crushing everything around me. What does that mean? Interpret that for me. The car is obviously a metaphor for like modernity, feeling the crushing weight of modernity. And I think especially growing up in an era where social media had just been invented, you know, it’s that kind of crushing down on you. And uh Taylor Swift, this person who acts like, you know, um the weight of the world is not solely crushing her and does a fantastic job of doing it. But I think that was your subconscious knowing that she’s also dealing with that as well. I love that. It was like a sub it was like a subconscious cry for help from Taylor Swift. 100%. She’s reaching out to you psychically. Taylor, it’s okay. She’s got you. Either that or you just like uh had too much sugar before bed. That’s probably it. How have you dealt with grief in your own life? Also, please eat a donut. Um, how have I dealt with grief? I mean, I I don’t know. I mean, I lost my when I lost my great grandma, Libby, that was tough. She was such a big part of my life. Um, and then losing like my two dogs was also very hard for me. Um, why am I I’m like I feel so bad. No, eat the donut. Eat the donut. Eat the donut. Um, yeah. Tragedy will always be here. Donuts are for now. I think this is how I cope with grief. The crispy cream. Like actually, you know what I mean? Mhm. What about you? My grandma passed away last year and it was the first time where I truly understood the importance of grieving. And I think for me the secret was like when you’re dealing with loss, I don’t know if you’ve experienced this with your, you know, great grandma or hell even like dogs, but this feeling of having something inside of you that you just don’t let out, right? I remember when my grandma was passing away, I had just this kind of phrase inside my head of like you were the only one there cuz she was the only one there for us for a long time. Um, and I just couldn’t bring myself to say it cuz there were other people around and I didn’t want to stick out in this kind of moment. and I asked for a moment by myself and just said that to her and she wasn’t even conscious at the time and I just started balling but it was the first time that I felt that big release of grief in a way but I don’t know do you find yourself having those like emotional outlets of just letting things go cuz it seems like you you have these anxieties about your loved ones and your family. Do you have that outlet to just kind of let it all pour out? Oh yeah, absolutely. I cry frequently. I’m a Pisces. Um, we’re like the most emotional sign, sensitive sign. And also, and I there’s no I love a good cry. God, there’s nothing better than crying sometimes. I can’t imagine like there’s some people that tell me like, “Oh, I haven’t cried. I can’t remember the last time I cried.” And I’m like, “Really?” Cuz I cried this morning. I know you you became really fast friends with Christina Grimmie. And when I did she died, that shock wave was felt throughout so many industries. Yeah, that was shocking. How did you deal with that? And, you know, did you, I don’t know, come away from that any different? I remember when I met Christina, she she was just the sweetest girl ever. We we were on a song together called Love Song to the Earth with Toby Gad and we performed together in DC and she was just so cool. I remember hanging out with her and thinking like, you know, when you meet people and you’re like, “Oh yeah, like we’re going to be friends.” Like, this is the kind of person I want like in my circle that I want to be friends with. And that’s how I felt about her. And this industry, you meet people, everyone’s always so busy. We all have our own things going on. And I remember I invited her to like a screening of my movie that I had coming out at the time called Naomi and Eli’s No Kiss List. And she like took time out of her schedule to show up like with her brother and be there to support me. And that meant so much to me. And she was just a lovely like sweet, incredible girl. And I remember being in New York and my mom told me that something was trending about, you know, like pray for Christina. And I was like, “Hi, I’m Christina.” And and then finding out all of that happened. It was it like it it’s it was terrifying and such a wakeup call. I don’t know. You just have to be you can never be too careful. I don’t even know. It was just devastating that something like that can actually happen to someone that you know. Um and that I don’t know. It was just truly horrific. I don’t even know. Yeah. I don’t I don’t I just don’t even know. There’s a freedom to me in letting go of being I’m strapped into this airplane. We’re floating 30,000 ft above the air. If any if a goose gets sucked into the engine, we’re all dead. And that’s totally fine. I don’t know. There’s almost something comforting to me about it, but that’s probably because I’m So, you’re not afraid of dying. I certainly don’t look forward to it. Yeah. But I think it’s it’s kind of the most played out common thing you can do. You know what I mean? Everyone’s done it at this point. It’s trit. It’s overplayed. You know, it’s over. Why even do it? You know, it’s so basic. Yeah. be different. What do you think happens with that? Interesting. I kind of just feel like we exhale and then it it goes black and then maybe there’s like some pretty little like turquoise little like like a little energy like sparkles that like emit out into the universe of energy and our energy just continues to live on in some sort of other living way and just continues continues somehow. I don’t know. Jo, are you ready to get in the lightning round? Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s do it. Who’s the one person dead or alive you’d want to share your actual last meal with? I feel like Jesus. It would be really interesting. I just have so many questions. You know what’s like what’s the deal? What’s the first question you ask Jesus? What’s the deal? Be like, hey, like what’s what’s up with all this? How do you feel? How do you feel about everything? What really happened? Yeah. Like just level with me. Be honest with me. You know what I mean? Are you tell are you asking me? I don’t know what else. Oh, I’m Jesus now. I Yeah. Okay. No, I’m Jesus. Let’s role play. And the way like that you’re depicted in all his artwork. How do you feel about that? I love the way they shaded my abs cuz I think they really nailed that. You know what I mean? The attention to detail in the feet is weird. Thank you so much. But but you know what I mean. What song do you want to be played at your funeral? Maybe Rich Girl by Hollen Oats. Not just because it’s just such a fun song and it just makes me so happy and my mom and I both share a love for Hollow Notes and I think everyone would just feel really uplifted and want to dance. Would you ever do a gritty A24 style reboot of Victorious that is Black Swan meets Performing Arts High School? Oh my god, absolutely. Are you kidding? That would be my dream. Who do we have to go? Can we make that happen? Can we make that happen? Hey 24. Hi, Victoria Justice here. Let’s do a gritty Black Swan meets what is it? Meets like Victorious Victoribelly of Performing Arts High School. Dark underbelly of Performing Arts High School reboot. I’m not kidding. That would be amazing. Yeah. Hi, A24. I’m I’m Josh. Yeah. Can he put him in it, too? Give him a cameo. I’ll do Crafty. It’s fine. Just let me let me make enchiladas for lunch. Uh, if you could haunt one person after your death, they wouldn’t be. Oh, man. I mean, my sister. Silly haunt or scary haunt? Silly for sure. Silly for sure. Flipping her toilet paper around, you know? Yeah. Over. Yeah. I don’t know what I would do. Just like Yeah. Messing with her like Spotify like the music that she’s playing when she’s getting ready. It’s just like throwing in songs that she like knows that it’s me, that I’m there. You know what I mean? Classic stuff like that. Who’s your dream eulogizer? M Christopher Walkin. Oh my god. Come on. Can you think of anyone better? Not even a little bit. It has Jesus to do it while he’s still around from your last meal. Uh who’s a dream musical artist uh you want to collaborate with that you haven’t yet? I mean, I love Rey. She would be at like the top of my list. She’s such an incredible songwriter and just like a true artist. I would love the opportunity to work with her. I think she’s just amazing. Hell yeah. Uh what’s your biggest fear? M I think my parents dying. Yeah, something happening to my mom. That’s that’s definitely my my biggest fear I would say. Take surface streets on the way home just in case, you know, like just bad juju from all this. Uh what’s your greatest regret in life? Oh, how many? Yeah, I feel like um yeah, I stand behind all the choices I’ve made thus far and they’ve all brought me to where I am today and I like where I am today. So, no regrets. I like where you are today and I’m very grateful that you came with us today. Victoria, if you want to deliver your last words to that camera right there. My last words. Oh my gosh. Well, I guess that’s it. Thanks for having me and thank you to the people who have loved me. I hope that I’ve left this world a little bit better in some small way. And be kind and see you in the next round. Peace. Absolutely beautiful. Victoria Justice. Everybody, make sure you check her out on Suits LA, California King. You got a new project coming up, Send a Scare. Yeah, I’m filming a movie this uh this summer in Arkansas. Horror film. Incredible. Talk about a lot of death in that. Can’t wait to watch it. That’s going to be crazy. Do you die? Can you give us spoilers? I can’t tell you that. Oh, come on. I cannot tell you that. So excited to watch her die. Uh anyways, check out her new music. It is really, really awesome. I can’t wait to see what you do next. Thank you. Bye, guys. Find her and an eye tie. Nothing makes death more palatable like a little drinky drink. The Last Meals bar set is available now at mythical.com.