Bynes to retire from acting at 24
Actress Amanda Bynes arrives at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall on September 13, 2009 in New York City. Credit: Getty
Grown-up child star and Maxim cover girl Amanda Bynes has tweeted that she's retiring from acting at age 24.
"I've never written the movies & tv shows I've been apart of I've only acted like the characters the producers or directors wanted me to play," she wrote on her verified Twitter account, "Chicky," at 5:58 a.m. on Saturday. "Being an actress isn't as fun as it may seem," she immediately added.
About 45 minutes later, she tweeted, "I don't love acting anymore so I've stopped doing it."
A Bynes representative has not yet confirmed the Twitter announcement.
Those who began their childhoods in the late 1990s, and their parents, are familiar with the talented actress who won five Kids' Choice Awards, for three different shows, from 2000 to 2004.
At 13, she joined the cast of "All That," a Nickelodeon sketch-comedy show that developed an adult hipster audience. That show spun off "The Amanda Show" (1999-2000), which led to the WB's teen hit "What I Like About You" (2002-06).
After co-starring with Frankie Muniz in the 2002 film "Big Fat Liar," Bynes went on to "She's the Man" (2006) and to play Penny in "Hairspray" (2007).
She signed a five-year contract with the Port Washington-based apparel chain Steve & Barry's, which launched her fashion line Dear in August 2007. But that was cut short when the business went into bankruptcy in 2008.
That same year, Bynes was cast in the 2009 film comedy "Post Grad," but was replaced before shooting by Alexis Bledel. "Canned," an ensemble sitcom pilot for ABC that same year, was not picked up.
Bynes' last scheduled film role is in "Easy A," a modern retelling of "The Scarlet Letter," scheduled for mid-September.
