Amanda Laura Bynes (born April 3, 1986) is an American retired actress. Bynes began her career as a child actress and received recognition for her roles on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series All That (1996–2000), and The Amanda Show (1999–2002), for which she won several Kids' Choice Awards for both.
In her mid-teens, Bynes starred in The WB (now The CW) sitcom What I Like About You (2002–2006) and in the teen comedy films Big Fat Liar (2002) and What a Girl Wants (2003). As an adult, she appeared in the films She's the Man (2006), Hairspray (2007), Living Proof (2008), and Easy A (2010), before announcing her retirement from acting.
Upon her retirement from acting in 2010, Bynes publicly struggled with mental health and substance abuse. Her legal problems, which persisted from 2012 to 2014, resulted in her parents being granted conservatorship of her from 2013 to 2022.
Bynes was born on April 3, 1986, and raised in Thousand Oaks, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. Her father is Catholic and is of Irish, Lithuanian, and Polish descent, and her mother is Jewish, born to a Canadian couple whose families were from Poland, Russia, and Romania.
Since childhood, Bynes has been interested in illustration and fashion design. In December 2013, Bynes enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in Irvine, California for 2014. In 2018, she received her associate's of art degree in merchandise product development and announced her intentions to start a bachelor's degree program. In 2019, Bynes graduated from FIDM.
1993–2005: Child acting and breakthrough
Bynes began professionally acting at age seven, appearing in television advertisements for Buncha Crunch candies, Cut and Style Barbie, and Taco Bell. During her childhood, she appeared on stage in versions of Annie, The Secret Garden, The Music Man, and The Sound of Music. Later, she attended a comedy camp at the Los Angeles Laugh Factory, at which she received advice from Richard Pryor and Arsenio Hall. A Nickelodeon producer spotted her at a performance at the Laugh Factory, which prompted the network to cast her on the sketch comedy series All That, where she played various roles from season three to season six. The show brought Bynes recognition, and garnered her first Kids' Choice Award in 2000. Bynes was also a regular member of the series Figure It Out from 1997 to 1999.
At the age of 13, Bynes received her own spin-off comedy show entitled The Amanda Show, which ran from 1999 to 2002 on Nickelodeon. She had her breakthrough on the show, earning praise and acclaim. She won four Kids' Choice Awards and received two Young Artist Award nominations. In 2002, Bynes made her feature film debut in Big Fat Liar starring as Kaylee, best friend of co-star Frankie Muniz's character. Although the film had a mixed reception, it was a commercial success, and she won another Kids' Choice Award for her performance. Also in 2002, she landed the leading role of Holly Tyler in the WB sitcom What I Like About You, which aired from 2002 to 2006. The series garnered positive reviews and Bynes received a number of nominations from the Teen Choice Awards and the Young Artist Awards.
In 2003, Bynes starred as Daphne Reynolds in her second feature film, What a Girl Wants, alongside Colin Firth. The film received mixed reviews but was a commercial success nonetheless. For the role, she won the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actress. Also that year, she appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair's July 2003 edition. She also had some voice roles in animation films such as the 2003 direct-to-video film Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure, which was panned by critics, and as Piper Pinwheeler in the 2005 film Robots, which was a commercial success. Also in 2005, she acted opposite Chris Carmack in the romantic comedy Love Wrecked.
2006–2010: Mainstream stardom and acting retirement
Bynes was named one of Teen People's "25 Hottest Stars Under 25" in 2006. Also in 2006, Bynes starred in the teen sports romantic comedy film She's the Man, based on William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. She portrays Viola Hastings, a girl who pretends to be her twin brother to play with the boys' soccer team at an elite boarding school after the girls soccer team at her school gets cut. Critic Roger Ebert wrote "Of Amanda Bynes let us say that she is sunny and plucky and somehow finds a way to play her impossible role without clearing her throat more than six or eight times. More importantly, we like her."
In 2007, Bynes starred as Penny Pingleton, a sheltered young girl, in the musical comedy film Hairspray, based on the musical theater adaptation of John Waters' 1988 film. The film was a critical and commercial success premiering in over 3,000 theaters, the largest debut for any musical film. It went on to become Bynes's most successful film at the time, and she and the rest of the cast were acclaimed for their performances. She won the Critics' Choice Award and received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination in 2008, among others. She was also featured on the Hairspray soundtrack, which received a Grammy nomination. It was announced Bynes would reprise her role in Hairspray 2, but the project was canceled. In August 2007, Bynes worked with Steve & Barry's to create her own fashion line called Dear, consisting of apparel and accessories. The line was cut short when Steve & Barry's filed for bankruptcy in 2008.
Bynes' next role was in another comedy, Sydney White, also released in 2007. The film was a critical and commercial failure, although Bynes' performance was praised. Review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes wrote "Amanda Bynes is charming, but Sydney White is a poorly adapted take on Snow White, relying on tired ethnic stereotypes laughs." In 2008, she appeared in the Lifetime television movie Living Proof as the student assistant of Harry Connick, Jr.'s character. The film and the cast were praised. Also in 2008, Bynes voiced Anna in the Family Guy episode "Long John Peter". In March 2009, Bynes alongside Tim Peper, Stephanie Lemelin, and Baron Vaughn filmed the ABC pilot Canned, where she captured the role of Sarabeth. The workplace comedy followed a group of friends that were all fired on the same day. She was also set to star in the romantic comedy Post Grad, but she dropped out and was replaced by Alexis Bledel amid rumors that she was having difficulties.
In January 2010, Bynes posed for the cover of Maxim for their February issue. In June, Bynes announced via Twitter that she would retire from acting. The following month, she seemingly retracted her previous statement by tweeting, "i've unretired"; and concurrently posted an advertisement for her upcoming film, Easy A, in which she would co-star alongside then-relatively unknown Emma Stone. She played Marianne Bryant, the president of a high school Bible study club who becomes the personal nemesis of Stone's character. The film was a critical and commercial success, with Stone and Bynes receiving critical praise for their performances. In the same year, Bynes started shooting the Farrelly brothers comedy film Hall Pass, but dropped out and was replaced by Alexandra Daddario. In a September 2012 interview, Bynes clarified her acting status, telling People, "I am retired as an actor. I am moving to New York to launch my career. I am going to do a fashion line."
In June 2018, Bynes considered returning to acting, but nothing has happened since.
In December 2023, Bynes debuted as the co-host of an interview-style podcast, Amanda Bynes & Paul Sieminski: The Podcast, but she left after one episode to "get [her] manicurist license and have a consistent job". In December 2024, she hosted a pop-up art show in West Hollywood, showcasing her collaborative work with fashion designer and artist Austin Babbitt.
In April 2026, Bynes signed with Create Music Group, and released her EDM trap single "Girlfriend" featuring Fenix Flexin.
In 2007, Bynes described herself as Jewish and said: "As far as religion, I was raised both. I learned about both [Judaism and Catholicism]. My parents said it was up to me to decide when I grew up. I'm sort of a spiritual person anyway. I haven't decided yet. I don't know yet exactly what I believe."