Amanda Bynes

Lovable Amanda Bynes.



Amanda Bynes with her equally lovable dog Charlie, of the Cavalier King Spaniel breed. Amanda Bynes certainly loves dogs since before this she had a Blenheim Cavalier named Midge. As a teen star living at home, Amanda owned a golden lab named Tootsie and a mixed Australian shepherd named Betty.

Amanda and Midge

Amanda Bynes physical comedy

"I really don't think being funny is something that you can learn," says Amanda Bynes. "I think it’s just sort of innate."



Amanda loved watching sitcoms like I Love Lucy, Full House, and Family Matters, and she’s a huge fan of slapstick humor; movies like Romy and Michele's High School Reunion and her favorite Dumb and Dumber which she's seen 40 times. And Jim Carrey is her comedy hero. "The first time I watched Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and he stuck his head out the window, that just rocked my world."

Amanda's father Rick, a longtime fan of stand-up comedy, signed up her and her sister for a comedy camp every Saturday at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles. He also helped her write jokes for her act at the Laugh Factory, which nurtured her future comedic talents. This talent for comedy were seen in her long-running Nickelodeon series, The Amanda Show, and in the 2006 sex-switch comedy about boys, girls and soccer, She's the Man:

(L to R) Robert Hoffman, Laura Ramsey, Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum, and Alex Breckenridge

"Amanda is truly one of the best actresses of our age group. As a kid I watched her on Nickelodeon and she always blew me away. After acting with Amanda, I'm not afraid to do comedy," says her gorgeous co-star Channing Tatum. Amanda's turns as a short-haired boy were funny to watch with the exaggerated male mannerisms like grabbing the crotch and spitting. She's the Man was timed for release to coincide with the 2006 Soccer World Cup.



Amanda's comedic, and stand-up impressions, talents were also showcased in the 2002 teen comedy Big Fat Liar with Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz. Frankie had then predicted, "Amanda is so great at physical humor. She'll be a long-term star."

Amanda did sketches and slapstick comedy routines in her long-running The Amanda Show on Nickelodeon. Among her other comedic turns were in Lovewrecked, What a Girl Wants, Sydney White, and another TV show What I Like About You.

Sara Paxton (L) is president of Amanda Bynes' sorority in Sydney White

"I'm only 19 and I still like these kinds of movies. I don't want to grow up so fast because then you're an adult for the rest of your life. When I'm 25, then it will definitely be time to play more serious roles," Amanda Bynes said this in 2006. She has a part in the upcoming Living Proof, a biopic about Dr. Dennis Slamon, who spent his career in the fight against Breast Cancer. Amanda plays a liberal arts major who becomes his research assistant.

Amanda Bynes personal

While her father is a dentist and brother Tommy is a chiropractor, Amanda Bynes says, "I’m definitely not a science major." And Amanda is very attached to her family. "As soon as I leave, for, like, several hours afterward, it’s almost as if my soul has been ripped from my body," she says. "So I’ll call my sister Jillian or my mom and dad. I will literally just talk to them and get it all out of my system. Then I’ll feel better, back to myself. If I didn’t have my parents, I’d lose sight of myself."



Bynes was born (April 3, 1986) and raised in Thousand Oaks, California. Although she graduated high school (Thousand Oaks High) in 2004, Bynes says, "I grew up with terrible acne and feeling insecure. I was tall and skinny. I didn't feel pretty at all, and guys didn't even like me. That's why I got into comedy."

But Amanda Bynes did have relationships with hot guys. She dated Taran Killam, her costar on The Amanda Show for two years, and then Nick Zano, her costar on What I Like About You. "I learned so much from both relationships. Both of them helped me to get to where I am today," says Amanda who is open about her love life. Currently she is rumored to be seeing Seth MacFarlane of the Family Guy; they met when Amanda did the final episode of that show.



"Way too many girls think they aren’t good enough, and they end up losing their virginity to gross guys," Amanda told CosmoGirl. Her advice? "Know how good you are. Be more sure of yourself. I think a lot of girls don’t realize until they’re older, like, Wow, I wasn't that bad."

Though she starred in a soccer movie, Amanda was not into sports. "I don't really like to play them, but they're fine to watch."

Amanda Bynes image

And despite her disinterest in sport, Amanda Bynes walks to stay fit. She also likes to wear Spanx body-shaping underwear. But Amanda's not concerned about her looks or getting plastic surgery, "I think women look better and better as they get older, but there is some pressure on them to look a certain way. I personally think we should grow old gracefully. Like, my mum has great hair and it’s beautiful. It looks natural."





Amanda Bynes was born the same year as Hilary Duff and Lindsay Lohan. The three teen stars have had parallel careers, and constant comparisons. Some people have remarked that Amanda's relatively low profile and good girl image compared to the other two's more sexualized images, may have given her more modest success. But it has given her the label of a role model for girls. As Amanda told CosmoGirl's Deborah Baer, "I like to go dance and let off steam. But I won’t do things that I would be ashamed for my mom to see."




This is why Amanda rarely goes to clubs. "I don't like to drink. I have definitely stayed out of the party scene. I've been offered to go to those parties, but I feel like I would be the one who would die if I did something," she said.



In 2007 Amanda Bynes joined the new 'Body by Milk' campaign created to encourage teens to be active and drink 3 glasses of lowfat or fat free milk everyday to stay healthy. Other celebs modeling the famous milk mustache in the campaign include Hayden Panettiere, Beyonce Knowles, and the cast of High School Musical 2. Bynes claims that she vomits every time she tries drinking alcohol. She prefers the sugar-free energy drink Red Bull.



Amanda turned blonde recently. She also acted in her first musical Hairspray where she portrayed a '50s girl falling in love with an African-American character. Although she hasn't gone to college Bynes says, "I definitely will at some point in my life will go to college, I love and am fascinated by psychology, so that's something that I'd like to learn more about."

While being a good role model, Amanda herself looks up to some of her peers. "I love Natalie Portman. She seems like she still has values. And Kelly Clarkson seems like the kind of girl who’d rather be at Denny’s with a group of friends than at a club."

This is not Amanda's car but a photoshoot by Viki Forshee for Elle Magazine

"I like driving. It's preferred to not being behind the wheel. I've wanted to drive since I was little, so getting my license was important to me. I wanted a BMW convertible, but my parents made me get a Honda Accord," she says. But Amanda Bynes loves BMW, since she got herself a 2005 BMW X5 and now drives a 2008 model of the same car.

Amanda Bynes loves to draw and design clothes for fun. In 2007 she officially introduced her apparel and accessory line, Dear, in New York at Steve&Barry's, a casual retailer. "I wanted a clothing line that made affordable fashionable, because it is really hard when you're in school and maybe your parents can't afford or won't let you get the expensive clothes and you still want to be wearing the hip thing. I think that it's now hip to have affordable clothes," Bynes told The ShowBuzz.



Amanda Bynes looks better with her natural brown hair!