Amanda Bynes

Bynes was born in Thousand Oaks, California, to Lynn and Richard Bynes, and was raised in both Catholic and Jewish traditions. Early in her career, she dated actor Taran Killam from 2001 to 2002 and later had a brief relationship with Seth MacFarlane in 2008 after guest-starring on Family Guy. In early 2020, Bynes announced her engagement to Paul Michael, whom she met while in treatment; the pair called off their engagement and subsequently separated in 2022.

Beginning in 2012, Bynes experienced public personal difficulties involving substance abuse and mental health challenges, which led to multiple legal incidents and psychiatric evaluations. Following an involuntary psychiatric hold in July 2013, her parents petitioned for legal control of her affairs, and her mother was granted conservatorship. Bynes later disclosed a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. In February 2022, with the support of her parents and medical team, Bynes filed to end the arrangement. A California judge officially terminated the conservatorship in March 2022.

Bynes began acting professionally at the age of seven, appearing in television commercials for Buncha Crunch candy, Barbie, and Taco Bell, as well as community stage productions of Annie, The Secret Garden, and The Sound of Music. While attending a youth comedy camp at the Los Angeles Laugh Factory, where she received mentorship from Arsenio Hall and Richard Pryor, she was discovered by a Nickelodeon producer. She joined the cast of the sketch comedy series All That in 1996 for its third season, quickly becoming a fan favorite through characters such as the irritable advice columnist on "Ask Ashley."

Her performance on All That led to regular appearances on the game show Figure It Out and prompted Nickelodeon to build a dedicated variety show around her. At age 13, she began hosting The Amanda Show, which ran from 1999 to 2002 and earned her multiple Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. In 2002, Bynes transitioned to prime-time television, co-starring alongside Jennie Garth in the WB sitcom What I Like About You, portraying high school student Holly Tyler across four seasons.

Bynes made her feature film debut in the 2002 teen comedy Big Fat Liar, starring opposite Frankie Muniz. She followed with the lead role in the 2003 romantic comedy What a Girl Wants, playing an American teenager searching for her aristocratic British father, portrayed by Colin Firth. Over the next two years, she voiced Piper Pinwheeler in the animated feature Robots and starred in the romantic comedy Love Wrecked.

In 2006, Bynes starred as Viola Hastings in She's the Man, a modern adaptation of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. She strongly advocated for casting co-star Channing Tatum in the film before he achieved major Hollywood stardom. The following year, she played Penny Pingleton in the 2007 musical film adaptation of Hairspray, joining an ensemble cast that included John Travolta, Queen Latifah, and Zac Efron. The film was a critical and commercial hit, earning Bynes a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. Her subsequent projects included the comedy Sydney White (2007), the television movie Living Proof (2008), and the high school comedy Easy A (2010), in which she played Marianne Bryant opposite Emma Stone.

In June 2010, Bynes announced her retirement from acting to focus on other creative interests, particularly fashion design. She had previously launched a clothing and accessory line called Dear with retailer Steve & Barry's in 2007, though the line ended when the company filed for bankruptcy the following year.

In December 2013, Bynes enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in California. She earned an associate degree in merchandise product development in 2018 and graduated from the institution in 2019. In late 2023, she briefly co-hosted an interview podcast before pausing the project to pursue a manicurist license. In December 2024, she co-hosted a pop-up art exhibition in West Hollywood with designer Austin Babbitt, and in 2026 she signed with Create Music Group to release the single "Girlfriend" featuring Fenix Flexin.