Born in 1986 in Thousand Oaks, Calif., Amanda Bynes is an actress, fashion designer, and former host of The Amanda Show on Nickelodeon.

She began professionally acting at the age of seven, appearing in a television advertisement for Buncha Crunch candies. Bynes got her break in 1996 on Nickelodeon’s All That, and in 1999 she got her own show on the network (The Amanda Show).

Bynes made her film debut in 2002’s mild box office success, Big Fat Liar. Her first major leading role was in 2003’s What a Girl Wants. She also starred in the WB sitcom What I Like About You, opposite Jennie Garth, from 2002 to 2006, before starring in She’s the Man, a comedy based on William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. In July 2007, Bynes appeared in the mega-musical, Hairspray.