Amanda Bynes on What I Like About You

Born on April 3, 1986 in Thousand Oaks, California, Amanda Bynes is an American actress and singer, as well as a former show host on Nickelodeon. The youngest of three children, she became interested in performing at the age of three.

In 1996, Amanda Bynes made her acting debut when she auditioned for and got the role as a newcomer on the comedy series All That. She gained popularity as Ashley in the sketch “Ask Ashley.” In 1998, she was trained by Arsenio Hall and Richard Pryor at a comedy camp. When she was seven, her professional acting career began to flourish. She appeared on a commercial for Buncha Crunch candies, as well as being on several stage productions. She was in versions of Annie, The Sound of Music and The Secret Garden as a child. She eventually became a regular cast member on the Nickelodeon shows All That and Figure It Out until All That was cancelled in 2000. She next became the host of her own variety show The Amanda Show in 1999, also on Nickelodeon. It was a combination of comical skits and sketches which feature her as the star.

Bynes’ first feature film was 2002’s Big Fat Liar, where she starred alongside Frankie Muniz and Paul Giamatti. The next year, she starred as the lead character Daphne Reynolds in the family film What a Girl Wants. While filming the movie, she was cast as Holly Tyler in The WB sitcom What I Like About You opposite Jenny Garth. She also lent her voice to the animated comedy film Robots, with Ewan McGregor, Drew Carey, Robin Williams and Greg Kinnear. Her next film was Love Wrecked, and she also starred in 2006’s She’s the Man. The film was loosely based on the William Shakespeare work Twelfth Night. In 2007, she was given the role of Penny Pingleton in the adaptation of the Broadway musical Hairspray. The ensemble comedy also stars John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer and Zac Efron. Bynes was also in that year’s Sydney White, which is based on the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

(Photo courtesy of WB/CW)