Amanda Bynes Gives Up Acting to Dish Life Advice on Cameo
Like many a celebrity before her, Amanda Bynes has found her latest business venture in Cameo.
A rep for Cameo told The Daily Beast on Wednesday that Bynes joined the platform at the end of last week and “has been a popular/leading talent in the last week.” The former child star charges just $100 per video (that’s $300 less than George Santos!), and her Cameo bio reads simply: “Actress - She’s the Man - The Amanda Show.”
While some of Bynes’ personalized videos clock in at only 10 seconds, others run beyond the two- and even three-minute mark, with the Nickelodeon alum getting surprisingly personal with her fans. In one video addressed to a fan named Henry, she opens up about her recent struggle to get her manicurist license.
“I just wanted to tell you that I totally relate in terms of struggling with work,” she says in the video, which clocks in at three minutes and 37 seconds. “I have my manicurist certification, but I have yet to get my license. I have taken the test three times and I have not passed yet. It’s a written exam and it’s actually very hard. I’m not stupid and I don’t know why I wouldn’t pass. I’ve studied, I’ve taken practice exams, and I have passed the practice exams but I cannot pass the actual board exam.
“So I would say that for me, in terms of my struggle,” she continues, “I feel like, kind of depressed and just moping around because I have nowhere to go every day, like to clock in and get that self-worth that you gain from accomplishing what you need to accomplish for the day. … The best advice is to keep your head up.”
Bynes finished her video to Henry by further advising him that he can always change career paths, like she did.
“Also, I used to be an actress, and I no longer am. I decided to go a different route,” she says. “So if you don’t like what you do for work, you can always go back to school and find a different profession and do something that you enjoy doing more.”
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In another lengthy video, she gives advice to a different fan about building their self-worth and self-confidence, saying that she’s had to learn how to not be a people-pleaser: “I have learned over time to have an opinion … instead of just agreeing with everything my friends say.”
Bynes’ Cameo work isn’t all serious, though; in another video that was posted on Cameo’s official TikTok account, she answers a fan’s question about her favorite film or TV project she’s worked on. Her answer: What I Like About You, the early-aughts teen sitcom she starred in alongside Jennie Garth.
Bynes, 37, stepped away from acting after starring in Easy A in 2010. Three years later, she was placed under a conservatorship after a series of struggles with substance abuse and mental health. That conservatorship was terminated in 2022, after nine years.
In recent years, Bynes has chosen to focus on projects outside of Hollywood, including earning an associate’s degree from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in 2019. She briefly returned to the public eye last year when she launched a podcast, but decided to ditch the project after just one episode. At the time, she explained that she “would rather get my manicurist license and have a consistent job,” and would be focusing on that instead.
Here’s hoping she can finally pass that exam soon—it seems we’ll have to keep an eye on her Cameo for updates.
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