In 2018, Bynes said that playing a boy had a damaging effect on her mental health.
In between the 1990s and the 2000s Hollywood blessed audiences with a fair share of Shakespeare-inspired teen movies, including 2006 comedy She’s The Man.
An adaptation of Shakespeare’s play The Twelfth Night, She’s The Man stars Amanda Bynes in the double role of Viola and Sebastian Hastings. Despite the movie’s success, the actress later revealed she didn’t feel comfortable seeing herself dressed up as a man.
She’s The Man Was Released 15 Years Ago Today
Released 15 years ago, the film directed by Andy Fickman sees Bynes in one of her most memorable performances while also shedding some light on the reasons Bynes left acting.
A soccer player at Cornwall, Viola (Bynes) decides to pass herself off as her twin brother Sebastian after her school’s team gets cut out. Disguised as a man, Viola attends prestigious boarding school Illyria and joins their soccer team, hoping to beat Cornwall in order to have her school reinstate the women’s team.
Also starring a then-newcomer Channing Tatum in the role of Viola’s teammate and love interest Duke, She’s The Man has become a cult classic. In 2018, however, the actress opened up on how seeing herself as a boy in She’s The Man triggered her mental health problems.
“When the movie came out and I saw it, I went into a deep depression for 4-6 months because I didn’t like how I looked when I was a boy,” Bynes told Paper in 2018.
“I’ve never told anyone that.”
Bynes then explained that rewatching herself with short hair and sideburns prompted “a super strange and out-of-body experience” that put her in a funk. She was also very critical of her last film role to date, the 2010’s Emma Stone-starring comedy Easy A.
Fans Reflect On ‘She’s The Man’ Anniversary And What The Movie Meant To Bynes
Fans have been looking back at that Bynes’ interview to mark the 15th anniversary of She’s The Man.
The actress went on an indefinite hiatus from acting following her appearance on Easy A as she struggled with substance abuse and mental health issues. According to the interview with Paper, where Bynes also expressed an interest in returning to television acting, She’s The Man was among the reasons why she took a break.
“It’ll never not make me sad that She’s The Man is a big part of why Amanda Bynes stopped acting. This movie is gold, and I miss her,” a fan wrote on Twitter ahead of the movie's anniversary.
“Apparently Amanda Bynes felt weird and anxiety, and slipped into a depression, when she saw herself as a boy in She's The Man. Like a form of gender dysphoria. Not to downplay or take away from her experiences but imagine how trans people feel having to be forced into a role,” was another comment.