Where is Amanda Bynes now? Former Child star’s career following breakdown explored as she shares new tattoo

Former actress Amanda Bynes just took to social media to debut her new tattoo. Showing off the roman numeral ‘X’ on one of her fingers, Bynes, in an Instagram story, said,

“I wanted to post that my best friend Dylan and I have been best friends for 10 years and to make our best friend anniversary, we got matching roman numeral Xs for the number 10. I got it on my finger, Dylan got it on her ribcage.”

Bynes, who quit acting after her last film, Easy A, was released in 2010. Since she has been dabbling in various different careers, from fashion to art, to cosmetology. The former actress graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in 2019, as per Parade.

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Amanda Bynes' recent career moves, explored

Amanda Bynes had launched a short-lived podcast, Amanda Bynes & Paul Sieminski: The Podcast, at the end of 2023 but decided to instead focus on getting her manicurist license to retain a consistent job, as per E! News. The news outlet noted that at the time, Bynes revealed the career change from podcasting to being a manicurist in her Instagram stories and said,

“I would rather get my manicurist license and have a consistent job. I’m going to follow that path instead. Thank you for following my journey!”

Bynes’ experiments with art have led the She’s The Man actress to host a pop-up art exhibition with designer Austin Babbitt in Los Angeles in December 2024. Bynes, who regularly posts her multimedia artworks on her social media pages, also posted about the exhibition on her Instagram page. As per Parade, the exhibition was Bynes’s first public appearance in more than 10 years, and she spent the event interacting with fans.

Four weeks ago, Bynes had also announced on social media that she had joined O**lyF*ns, a social media platform for NSFW content. The former actress shared that she would not be posting any NSFW content, but would only be using the platform to chat with fans.

A few weeks before that, Bynes had also seemingly hinted at a possible return to the entertainment industry in a different role. While filming her work setup, Bynes wrote that she was in the process of writing a screenplay. While Bynes has not publicly shared any information on her screenwriting gig, Hot New Hip Hop reported that last year in December, Bynes spoke to rapper 50 Cent about her screenplay at his Las Vegas residency.

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Amanda Bynes’ mental health issues, explored

Amanda Bynes achieved fame as a child actress on Nickelodeon before graduating to adult roles, such as in the successful musical comedy film, Hairspray.

The actress began ab*sing substances while in the industry, though, and her dr*g habit contributed to her not being able to work. In a later conversation with Paper Magazine, Bynes said,

“When I was doing Hall Pass, I remember being in the trailer and I used to chew the Adderall tablets because I thought they made me [more] high [that way]. I remember chewing on a bunch of them and literally being scatterbrained and not being able to focus on my lines or memorize them for that matter.”

The actress soon retired from the film industry due to body image issues heightened by her dr*g usage. In the interview with Paper Magazine, Bynes referred to her last film role, Easy A, and said,

“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…I don't know if it was a dr*g-induced psychosis or what, but it affected my brain in a different way than it affects other people. It absolutely changed my perception of things.”

After her retirement, People Magazine noted that Bynes was involved in a string of alleged hit-and runs and DUIs, all of which resulted in either a settlement or being dismissed. The news outlet also noted that Bynes was taken under an involuntary psychiatric hold after she had set a small fire in someone’s driveway. Following the incident, the former actress was put under the conservatorship of her parents, according to Parade.

The conservatorship helped Bynes keep on the path to recovery, as per People Magazine, which reported that the former actress’ conservatorship was ended in 2022 after a court ruling.

Despite recovering, Bynes was involved in another incident. TMZ reported that in 2023, Bynes was found roaming the streets of LA without any clothes on. After she herself called the police, she was taken into psychiatric hold again.

While Amanda Bynes has gone through a lot over the years, her attempts at reinventing her career indicate that the former actress is intent on recovering.