Amanda Laura Bynes (born April 3, 1986) is an American actress, fashion designer and singer. Bynes appeared in several successful television series, such as All That and The Amanda Show, on Nickelodeon in the mid to late 1990s and early 2000s, and in 2002, she starred in the TV series, What I Like About You. She transitioned to a film career, starring in several films aimed at teenage audiences, including What a Girl Wants (2003), Love Wrecked (2005), She's the Man (2006), Hairspray (2007), and Easy A (2010).
She was named one of Teen People's "25 Hottest Stars Under 25" in 2006, and in 2007, Forbes listed her as the fifth highest paid celebrity under 21, with earnings of $2.5 million.
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 a 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, and was replaced by Alexis Bledel.
In June 2009, Bynes inked a two picture deal with Screen Gems. The first of the two movies was the 2010 teen comedy Easy A, starring Emma Stone and Lisa Kudrow, and the second was to have been a starring role. Bynes also planned to reprise her role as Penny Pingleton in the sequel to Hairspray. However, Hairspray 2 was canceled.
In June 2010, Bynes stated that she planned to retire from acting, announcing on her Twitter page, "I don’t love acting anymore, so I’ve stopped doing it." A month later, Bynes had a seeming change of heart and "unretired.