Summary

• Amanda Bynes had a prolific career on Nickelodeon in the late 90s, appearing in shows like Figure It Out and Rugrats.
• Despite notable roles in films like What A Girl Wants, her last appearance was in Easy A in 2010, portraying a Christian antagonist.
• Bynes showed her versatility by voice acting in animated films like Robots and taking on a comedic role in Hairspray as Penny Lou Pingleton.

As a child actor in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Amanda Bynes was among the most recognizable and popular actors in the world. Bynes only has 20 official credits to her name, but some of those credits account for more than 100 episodes of television. In the early days of her career, Bynes got her big break thanks to Nickelodeon, so she's likely recognizable to those who came of age around the turn of the century for her prolific work for the network, including commercials and award show appearances.

Getting her start on Nickelodeon's All That, Bynes was seemingly everywhere for several years, including getting her own series on the network. Bynes moved over into some notable starring roles in things like What A Girl Wants, She's The Man, and Big Fat Liar. Some personal issues caused her to step out of the spotlight, not having a single film or TV appearance since 2010. That means that a lot of people have forgotten some of the work she did in her career.

Figure It Out

(1997-1999)

Technically, this was the second series that Amanda Bynes appeared in during her professional career. With the success of All That, Bynes became a more prominent name and a big draw for Nickelodeon. That name recognition allowed her to show up on other Nickelodeon series and one of them was Figure It Out, which ran from 1997 until 1999.

Figure It Out was a game show hosted by Summer Sanders in which stars of other Nickelodeon series had to try and guess the special talents of the guests, who were typically kids who wrote in to appear on the show. With Bynes being a major name at the time, she was one of the panelists for several seasons along with the likes of Danny Tamberelli and Lori Beth Denberg. Both Tamberelli and Denberg appeared in All That with Bynes as well as other shows for the network.

The Nightmare Room

(2001-2002)

Author R.L. Stine is most known for the Goosebumps franchise which began as a 62-book series in the 1990s and spawned a show and movies. Even his other best-known novels, Fear Street series, is getting the Netflix treatment with a trilogy produced and more movies on the way. However, one of his lesser-known sets of books that came to TV was The Nightmare Room.

Bynes was in the first episode, which told a story about a basement haunted by kids who were forgotten.

It only aired 13 episodes on Kids' WB but featured some notable guest stars. Tania Raymonde, Madeline Zima, Brenda Song, Kaley Cuoco, who all went on to prominent television careers appeared. Stars known for kids' TV at the time, like Shia LaBeouf and Amanda Bynes also appeared in episodes of the show. Bynes was in the first episode, which told a story about a basement haunted by kids who were forgotten.

Arli$$

(1996-2002)

It feels like Arli$$ is a show that should get remembered more than it actually does. It aired on HBO and was similar to the popular Ballers series in that it centered on the world of sports and the people who work alongside the athletes. Here, it had to do with sports agents.

Bynes showed up in a season four episode as a character named Crystal Dupree. Dupree is a young ice skater who discovers that her parents have been spending all of the money she earned.

Arli$$ featured quality actors like Robert Wuhl and Sandra Oh, and it was popular with a passionate fanbase for its obscure references. It was also unique in that the lead actor appeared on a WCW wrestling program to promote it, fully in character. Bynes showed up in a season four episode as a character named Crystal Dupree. Dupree is a young ice skater who discovers that her parents have been spending all of the money she earned, a common discovery for young performers as well.

Family Guy

(1999-2024)

There have been so many episodes and seasons of Family Guy that trying to keep track of every guest star during the show's extensive run is next to impossible. Some actors have returned to the series to voice multiple characters year after year, while others have appeared in one-off episodes as characters that never return. A few years after the show's big revival from cancelation in the mid-2000s, Amanda Bynes joined that long list of actors to lend their voice to the series.

In season six's "Long John Peter," Bynes voiced a girl named Anna whom Chris falls for. The veterinary intern begins dating him and although things ended on good terms for the couple in the episode, Bynes never returned to the role and never voiced another character for the show. It was one of her final performances.

Rugrats

(1991-2006)

Along the same lines as All That, one of Nickelodeon's top shows of the '90s was Rugrats. The animated series followed a group of infants who explored the world with a little help from their big imaginations. The series was so popular it spawned a handful of movies, a spinoff series, and even a modern revival. By the time the 2000s began, the original animated series was winding down, and the ninth season was the final one. Amanda Bynes landed a recurring role in it but, by then, it was easy to overlook.

Due to a storyline where Didi Pickles opted to return to college for her Master's Degree in Child Development, the babies needed a babysitter. That's where Taffy Maynston came into play, voiced by Bynes in nine episodes. Taffy played the guitar in a band and was a distant relative of the Pickles family. She did not, however, return in the spinoff series.

Love Wrecked

(2005)

This is the rare case of Amanda Bynes having a leading role in something and it still being relatively easy to forget. Unlike her other leading performances, Love Wrecked wasn't a theatrical release, which means it didn't get as much attention. The movie was made for TV and aired on the ABC Family network. That particular network is better known as Freeform today.

They're really near the resort where they're supposed to stay, but she thinks them being stranded and relying on one another is her chance to get to know him.

The story follows a girl (Bynes) who gets stranded on an island with her musical idol while they're on a cruise. Due to having a crush on him, she decides to hide the truth that they're not actually marooned far from civilization. They're really near the resort where they're supposed to stay, but she thinks them being stranded and relying on one another is her chance to get to know him. The cast was as 2000's as it gets with Chris Carmack, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Fred Willard, and Lance Bass.

Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure

(2002)

E.B. White's children's novel Charlotte's Web is about as iconic as it gets. Almost every child seems to have read it at least once. The live-action film adaptation from 2006 starring Dakota Fanning was also quite popular, but it actually wasn't the first movie version. That came way back in 1973 in an animated picture. Obviously, that wasn't the one to star Bynes since she wasn't born until 1986. She took part in the 2003 sequel, Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure. Bynes voiced the character of Nellie, the leader of Charlotte's three daughters.

The movie sees the pig Wilbur befriend a lamb who is sold to another farmer. He doesn't want to lose his friends, so Wilbur joins up with the rat Templeton and Charlotte's three spider daughters to find the lamb.

Robots

(2005)

The early 2000s is when Amanda Bynes filmed most of her movies back-to-back, which is why some fans might have missed a few of those projects. 2005's Robots is one of the more underrated animated flicks from the era. The decade was seemingly dominated by the likes of Pixar and DreamWorks Studios, leaving things from 20th Century Fox to fall a bit by the wayside, even if Robots grossed $260.7 million at the box office.

Set in a world filled with robots, a hopeful inventor gets his dream job only to find that they're scamming their customers. Bynes voiced Piper Pinwheeler, who is the robot equivalent of a teenage girl who both picks on her older brother and wants to protect him. She also gets some of the funniest lines in the film. The voice cast also featured Halle Berry, Ewan McGregor, and Robin Williams.

Easy A

(2010)

It's the final acting credit of Amanda Bynes's career as of now. Not only that, but it marked a different kind of character for her. Bynes traditionally seemed to play the good girl, or the sidekick, or even the heroine, but her role in 2010's Easy A was as one of the acclaimed film's central antagonists, Marianne Bryant.

It could be argued that Bynes saved the best work of her career for last, as Easy A was beloved by both critics and audiences everywhere.

Marianna was a devout Christian girl who chastised Olive (Emma Stone) for the choices she made in her life, even if they weren't true. Her character acted as a satirical portrayal that provided plenty of funny moments in the movie. With Olive as one of Emma Stone's standout comedic characters, it's hard for anyone else to steal the spotlight from her in the movie, but Bynes does it in a few scenes. It could be argued that Bynes saved the best work of her career for last, as Easy A was beloved by both critics and audiences everywhere.

Hairspray

(2007)

A lot of child and teen TV stars also double as music artists. That's especially true for those who work on Disney or Nickelodeon television networks and sign contracts with recording studios owned by the same companies. Amanda Bynes was not one of them, having never had any sort of singing career. That said, it didn't stop her from joining the cast of 2007's Hairspray, a musical based on the legendary Broadway play and a 1988 film.

In this take on Hairspray, Bynes nabbed the role of Penny Lou Pingleton, the best friend of protagonist Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky). Most of the young actors cast were relative unknowns, with Bynes being one of the biggest stars of the younger cast members. While she doesn't sing a ton, she does get a few great lines. In a movie with a lot of talented voices and veterans of musicals like Queen Latifah and Michelle Pfieffer, Amanda Bynes held her own.