Devon Werkheiser was the teen star of a Nickelodeon show. By 25, he'd 'run out of money'.

For a certain generation of Nickelodeon viewers, Devon Werkheiser is an icon.

The 31-year-old was the title character in Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, a comedy that ran from 2004 until 2007 about Ned, a middle schooler who establishes a 'survival guide' for himself and his classmates to make it through the typical struggles of tweendom.

For three years, between the ages of 12 and 15, Werkheiser spent half a year in Los Angeles filming, and half a year in Georgia where he was from. 

As you might expect, he was having the time of his life: the show itself was comedic, plus his role opened up a whole new world of stardom among teenagers.

In an as-told-to essay for Business Insider, Werkheiser said it felt like it would last forever.

But then the show ended, a new series following Ned during high school was passed on, and the teen realised that a long-term acting career would not be as easy as he thought.

He found an acting coach and took classes, and he pushed and pushed for serious roles, but nothing really took off like it had for him as a 12-year-old.

After Neds, Werkheiser led a Nickelodeon movie called Shredderman Rules, starred in a few horror films and did voice work. In 2011, he had a recurring role in Greek and the following year he starred in an episode of Criminal Minds. In 2016, he appeared in an episode of 2 Broke Girls.

But by 25, the money he'd earned and lived off since that early fame ran out, and he decided it was time to get a 9-to-5 job.

"I was never ridiculous with my money, but I would eat out or go on trips when I wanted to. I'd always be living on my savings until the next job came and refilled it, then I'd live on my savings some more," he said.

"Over the years, supporting-role jobs started paying less in the industry, and at the same time I was booking less and less. The only thing I knew to do was to go get some hourly job and start working my way out of my situation. I got a 9-to-5 for the first time in my life.

"It was a real wake-up call for me... I realised I still had a lot to learn about adult life."

In an interview with Speech Bubble, Werkheiser said he'd worked at the front desk of a Los Angeles Equinox gym, where he checked in actors and stars he knew, among other 'day jobs'.

"It's not something to cry about," he said. "It's uncomfortable growth, but no, it's normal. My dad worked day jobs since he was 13, ya know? It's not really a 'boohoo' thing, but it was painful at times."

@devonwerkheiser I peaked in 2007 #ohno #flashback #comingofage #whatidwear #fashionfails #postamemory #rihanna #kidschoiceawards #nostalgia #90skids #flashback ♬ original sound - Devon Werkheiser

He had planned an acting comeback with movie Rust in 2021, but production was suspended when a prop gun that lead Alec Baldwin was holding unintentionally discharged, resulting in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Werkheiser was not on the set at the time of the accident and told ABC News' 20/20 special Hutchins' death was devastating.

"If you weren't on this movie, you can't possibly understand what this feels like. You can't know what it was like to be there on set before. And what it was to experience that day. And what it was to lose this person," he said.

Werkheiser's experience from 12-year-old star to a bit-part working actor gives an interesting insight into what it's like to transition out of being a child on a network like Nickelodeon or Disney Channel, which has launched the career of many stars (but also, left many others behind).

Avan Jogia, who starred in Nickelodeon show Victorious from 2010 until 2013 puts a lot of his post-Nick success down to luck.

"I got lucky a bunch of times and just kept on trying to get lucky," he told Business Insider.

He doesn't believe acting in kids' television prepares its young stars for a career in Hollywood.

"Most of the people who act in those shows don't get to be part of the industry too long after that — they run into trouble after that time is up. If anything, it can be confusing for a young person on those types of shows because there's a huge learning curve when you leave there and go out into the industry."

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On the flip side, these stars also don't get a normal childhood or teenage experience, as Miranda Cosgrove, who starred in Drake & Josh, during the same year's Werkheiser was on Ned's, and also played the title character in iCarly from 2007 until 2012, recalled during a September 2022 Reign With Josh Smith podcast episode.

"When I was really young, I would go in to write songs and the different people I was co-writing with would be like, 'What's the craziest thing that happened with a guy you were dating recently?' And I'd be thinking, 'I don't know,' I didn't really have any crazy stories because I wasn't really having a real high school or middle school experience."

Werkheiser attempted to get a Ned's Declassified Adulthood Survival Guide reboot off the ground, saying in a May 2021 TikTok that the goal was dead for now.

"Cookie and Moze [Ned's friends, played by Daniel Curtis Lee and Lindsay Shaw] were on board, the original creators and producers, Scott and Michelle Fellows, were on board, but we don't own the rights to Ned's Declassified. 

"So, we pitched it to Nickelodeon and Awesomeness TV, who do own the rights to it, and they passed on it and won't let us take it to sell it somewhere else."

Instead, Werkheiser launched a podcast called Growing Up With Devon which explores similar themes.

Feature image: Getty.