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Amanda Bynes used to be a name that inspired delight in all the fans who heard it. She was best known as an immense comedic talent, with a handle on physical comedy and an impeccable sense of timing. If there was every any kid that could hold her own among the giants on Saturday Night Live, it would've been Bynes. She was that good. She was that funny.
Nowadays, however, Bynes reputation has tanked. Plagued by alleged mental illness, the 27-year-old actress has become a tabloid staple. Sad to say, she's become the laughing stock rather than the source of laughter.
But we're confident she can get her groove back. If you take a look at her filmography, you'll see she's got it in her to make a comeback. All she needs to do is tap into the mentality that produced her best work. And which one was it? You'll see. Here's a ranking of all of Amanda Bynes' on-screen performances.
17. Jamie McGrath in Living Proof (2008)
A Lifetime feature-length creation about a doctor trying to cure cancer, Living Proof is a crappy bit of made-for-cable melodrama. A very reserved Bynes plays Jamie, the student assistant to the doc (Harry Connick Jr.). As he's pushed to the edge of sanity on his quest to save lives, Bynes...stands by timidly? There's no scenery for anyone else to chew on. Connick's eaten it all. —RS
16. Nellie in Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventures (2003)
Working in sketch comedy on All That and The Amanda Show made Bynes into a fine voice actor. Here, she voices Charlotte's daughter Nellie, who takes up the old family trade—writing messages in web—to help rescue this lamb named Cardigan. (That name is kind of a mean joke, no?) The movie is lackluster, an unnecessary sequel with lame songs and cheap animation, but there's no mistaking Byne's exuberant, spritely voice. —RS
15. Danielle Warner in The Nightmare Room (2001)
This little-seen show chronicles every elementary school kid's worst nightmares and fears. In the episode that Amanda Bynes stars in, she's Danielle Warner, a responsible older sister who must save her hypnotized, younger brother from being trapped in their basement.
The family has just moved into their new home and their basement is apparently cursed, devouring the souls of every young child who dares to wander in. This special basement also makes the children's parents forget that they ever had children in the first place! Aided by the scary sound effects and mysterious music, young Amanda Bynes looks suitably terrified. She screams, her eyes get wide—cut the check. —SS
14. Jenny Taylor in Love Wrecked (2005)
The leading lady of yet another teenage chick flick, Bynes is Jenny Taylor, the crazed fangirl who absolutely has to meet Jason Masters (Chris Carmack), the ultimate rock star heartthrob. She drags her best friend, Ryan (Jonathan Bennett), to the beach resort where the singer will be vacationing. To make a long story short: Jenny ends up realizing her love for Ryan, who has been there for her this whole time.
Bynes seems confident and comfortable as the charismatic and bubbly Jenny. —SS
13. Sydney White in Sydney White (2007)
Once again, Bynes plays the cute, down-to-earth young woman (Sydney White) as she tries to fit into sorority life in this predictable chick flick. Loosely based upon the Snow White fairy tale, our heroine gets kicked out of the sorority of her dreams (the one her mom was once a part of) by the "queen" of the campus and is forced to live in a house with seven very geeky dorks. Of course, they all turn out to be really great to live with (not at all shallow or superficial...) and she ends up with prince charming in the end. Dream a little dream. —SS
12. Piper in Robots (2005)
Bynes does an incredible job of holding her own ground amongst a cast of top-notch actors, including Halle Berry, Ewan McGregor, Robin Williams, Mel Brooks, and Greg Kinnear. She voices the spunky, strong Piper, one of the best ninjas in Robot City.
Bynes uses her usually sweet voice to convey the complexity of Piper in such a balanced manner that this young tomboy robot comes across as both tough and sensitive. Especially when she introduces herself as Piper: "By the way, the name's Piper. Rhymes with Viper... ssssss." Adorable. —SS
11. Kaylee in Big Fat Liar (2002)
Bynes was in her prime as a tween sidekick to her fellow child star, Frankie Muniz (of Malcolm in the Middle). At the peak of her success with The Amanda Show, she was ready to test out her big screen acting chops. Although we'd like to say she didn't let us down, Paul Giamatti stole the show. He's like an angry chipmunk. —VC
10. Holly Tyler in What I Like About You (2002-2006)
What I Like About You was a vehicle for Bynes to break away from her kid persona and enter the coveted "teen" stage of her career. The sitcom itself is pretty painful, complete with contrived plots and situations that viewers can dismantle in a minute, making the main characters look like they'd have trouble finding their way out if your threw a blanket over their heads. That said, Bynes really found her comedic voice on the show. Seriously, if you catch this in syndication her voice moves from one octave to the next as each frantic line gets higher and higher. Bynes also perfected her pratfall and camera mugging, all in the name of sisterly love and laugh tracks. —TA
9. Anna in Family Guy (2008)
On a show that's known for insensitively dissing everything in popular culture, Amanda Bynes somehow created a minor legacy of pure, lovable sweetness. In the season six episode "Long John Peter," Bynes voices Anna, a veterinary office intern whom the perennially uncool Chris Griffin romances. She's kind, affable, and not at all shallow, finding the good inside Chris' chubby body, social awkwardness, and terrible hairdo. Bynes gives Anna a tender, unassuming voice—she's the beautiful girl in high school who sits at the nerds' table in the cafeteria. —MB
8. Daphne Reynolds in What a Girl Wants (2003)
OK, so What a Girl Wants is no Citizen Kane. No one is studying the cinematography in grad school. But it did pretty great at the box office. And, no shame, we've got it on DVD. Who can't relate to the All-American girl, Daphne? She's outgoing, awkward, and willing to hop on a plane to fly across the ocean to meet her absent father, who happens to be a pretty big deal politically and running for a seat in the House of Commons. All of which Bynes plays without a sweat.
Still don't buy into this Amanda Bynes flick? Here's the pitch: illegitimate children, political scandal, a teenage girl caught in the middle of it all. Yeah, we know we just sold you. —TA
7. Penny Pingleton in Hairspray (2007)
Bynes claim that she was going to sign a record deal caught everyone off guard—because we all forgot about her appearnce in the musical movie, Hair Spray, where she crosses racial boundaries during the segregated '60s by smooching Elijah Kelly. Her singing is mediocre and she does a good job of dancing like a white girl. Otherwise, she uses those crazy eyes that make her so hilarious. —VC
6. Taffy in Rugrats (2001-2003)
Bynes voices 16-year-old Taffy, a character who appeared during Rugrats' later years. Taffy meets the youg'ns during a babysitting gig that's supposed to give her scratch to support her budding musical career (she plays with a band called the Saltwaters). And by budding, we mean crashing and burning on the runway. Taffy stinks, and all credit goes to Bynes, who careerns up and down the scale, singing forever off-key about meeting boys at convenience marts. She sells the hell out of the role. —RS
5. Crystal Dupree in Arli$$ (1999)
Bynes made one appearance in HBO's Arli$$ as a young girl. Her role's surprisingly meaty, as she plays a popular gold medal-winning figure skater who's looking to cash in on her fame with cereal commercials and what not. But she also wants to be kid. And compete. And she's pulled in all these directions at once, and she's kinda captivating. And then there are some good jokes about how she's a rather adept little business person. Truly an auspicious start. —RS
4. Marianne in Easy A (2010)
Bynes plays Marianne, an extremely uptight, hyper-religious virgin who makes it her job to annoy the shit out of the awesome Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) in Easy A.
Bynes does a great job at playing her usual exaggerated and comedic self, a riff on the characters she created during her sketch comedy days. This might sound like an insult to her craft, but she does the crazy bit well. —VC
3. Herself in The Amanda Show (1999-2002)
We were all with Amanda Bynes, hot off her stint as the youngest scene-stealing performer on All That, when she got her very own sketch show. She was living the dream, man-making fun of hillbillies, over-eager audience members, and, of course, adults. Between her Judge Judy (Judge Trudy) parodies, complete with dancing lobsters, her split personality (and number one fan) Penelope, and the family run movie rental store, Blockblister, Bynes was an unstoppable comedy force. If there was one 13-year-old we would've cast on SNL, it would've been Bynes. Truly, it was a golden time. —TA
2. Viola in She's the Man (2006)
She's the Man is a Shakespearean classic. We mean that in the sense that it's based on Shakespeare's play, Twelfth Night, and also in the sense that it's a pretty awesome movie that, no doubt, shall be remade countless times in our future. Girl meets boy, girl falls for boy, but boy is confused because girl is dressed in drag. Classic. Happens to us all the time.
Bynes' performance in She's the Man is legit, her comedic timing is down pat, and her physical comedy is perfection. Hilarious hijinks ensue! And it's all because her character wants to play soccer, so she masquerades as her twin brother (who looks nothing like her, but whatever). We don't mean this sarcastically. It's a pretty awesome film for feminism. —TA
1. All That (1996-2002)
Bynes joined that cast of Nickelodeon's sketch comedy show in its third season, and immediately became one of its most recognizable faces. The sketch she dominated most completely was "Ask Ashley," where she played a sweet girl who answered letters asking for advice with childishly profane rants-replace every instance of "stinkin'" with "fucking" and you have Ari from Entourage. She sold the wild oscillations of the character completely.
Today, the bits still work, but are undercut by the knowledge that her personality seems caught in a terrifying flux. —RS
