Amanda Bynes has opened up in a new profile in PAPER's "Break the Internet" issue.
#BreakTheInternet: @amandabynes. Having spent years out of the spotlight, Bynes steps back in and opens up about her tumultuous — and remarkable — journey. https://t.co/NFpW1Yy7AN pic.twitter.com/w9TXCtwB6n
The 32-year-old actress talked about everything from her past drug use, the negative impact her movie She's the Man had on her, publicly retiring from acting via Twitter, and more.
On the latter, Bynes said she came to the conclusion to retire after seeing herself in the movie Easy A at a screening. "I literally couldn't stand my appearance in that movie and I didn't like my performance. I was absolutely convinced I needed to stop acting after seeing it," Bynes revealed. "I saw it and I was convinced that I should never be on camera again and I officially retired on Twitter, which was, you know, also stupid," she shared. "If I was going to retire [the right way], I should've done it in a press statement — but I did it on Twitter. Real classy! But, you know, I was high and I was like, 'You know what? I am so over this' so I just did it. But it was really foolish and I see that now. I was young and stupid."
On the subject of her movie She's the Man, Bynes said she fell into "a deep depression" after seeing herself dressed as a boy.
When the movie came out and I saw it," Bynes said. "I went into a deep depression for 4-6 months because I didn't like how I looked when I was a boy [...] I've never told anyone that." Bynes added that it was "a super strange and out-of-body experience. It just really put me into a funk."
Speaking on her past drug use, Bynes said that she's "been sober for almost four years now." She continued: "Those days of experimenting [with substances] are long over. I'm not sad about it and I don't miss it because I really feel ashamed of how those substances made me act. When I was off of them, I was completely back to normal and immediately realized what I had done — it was like an alien had literally invaded my body. That is such a strange feeling."
Bynes also talked about how she helped Channing Tatum with his career by getting him cast in She's the Man.
"I totally fought for Channing [to get cast in] that movie because he wasn't famous yet," Bynes said. "He'd just done a Mountain Dew commercial and I was like, 'This guy's a star — every girl will love him!' But [the producers] were like, 'He's so much older than all of you!' And I was like, 'It doesn't matter! Trust me!'"
