Amanda Bynes
Amanda Laura Bynes (born April 3, 1986) is an American actress, former show host on Nickelodeon, comedian, fashion designer, singer and voice actor. After appearing in several successful television series (All That and The Amanda Show) on Nickelodeon in the mid-to late 1990s and early 2000s, Bynes transitioned to a film career, starring in several films aimed at teenage audiences, including She’s the Man (2006) and Hairspray (2007).
Bynes won Blimp awards at the Nickelodeon Kid’s Choic
e Awards five years in a row, from 2000 to 2004 for Favorite Television Actress in 2001 for All That, Favorite Television Actress in 2002 for The Amanda Show as well as the following year. In 2003 she also received the award for Favorite Movie Actress for Big Fat Liar and won another award in 2004 for Favorite Movie Actress for What a Girl Wants. Bynes also was a part of the Hairspray ensemble win at the 2008 Critics’ Choice Awards.
In 2006, she was named one of Teen People’s “25 Hottest Stars Under 25″, and in 2007, was on the Forbes list as the 5th highest paid celebrity under 21, earning $2.5 million.
In 1993, Bynes was trained as an actress by Arsenio Hall and Richard Pryor at a comedy camp, and began professionally acting at the age of seven, appearing in a television advertisement for Buncha Crunch candies.
Bynes made her film debut in 2002’s modest box office success, Big Fat Liar, where she starred opposite Frankie Muniz. Her first solo leading role was in 2003’s What a Girl Wants as Daphne Reynolds.
In 2006, Bynes s
tarred in She’s the Man, a comedy based on William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night; in the film, Bynes disguises herself as her brother in order to join the boys’ soccer team due to the fall of the girls’ team.
In 2008, Bynes appeared in the Lifetime Television movie Living Proof as the student assistant of Harry Connick Jr.’s character, who creates the Herceptin drug for breast cancer.
In April 2009, Bynes filmed the pilot for an ABC sitcom titled Canned, but the series failed to make the network’s fall lineup. Bynes was also originally set to appear as the female lead in the 2009 comedy Post Grad. She was replaced by Alexis Bledel.
In June 2009, Bynes inked a two picture deal with Screen Gems. The first of the two movies is a teen comedy, Easy A, starring Emma Stone and Lisa Kudrow, and the second will be a starring role. Bynes also plans to reprise her role as Penny Pingleton in the big screen sequel to Hairspray.
Bynes graduated from Thousand Oaks High School’s independent study program (though she attended La Reina High School in Thousand Oaks for some time) and has expressed a desire to attend New York University in the near future. She briefly moved into an apartment in Hollywood, California, but has since returned to her family home. Bynes is interested in drawing and fashion design, having commented that she is “the girl whose biggest nightmare would be to lose my makeup bag while traveling.
Bynes is seen getting cozy with The Hills regular and former Lauren Conrad flame Doug Reinhardt. The new pair is even spotted smooching courtside at an L.A. Lakers game. Of the type of guy she usually dates, the January Cosmopolitan cover girl tells the magazine, “Chace Crawford is gorgeous, but I wouldn’t want to date him. He’s too pretty.” Bynes reportedly splits with Reinhardt in the New Year.
