Amanda Bynes Hinted At Making An Acting Comeback, So My Inner '90s Kid Is Dancing

Let's be super clear: Amanda Bynes is a comedic genius. Even with an up and down career, a highly publicized past-life of substance abuse, and a reputation for acting out on Twitter, there is no denying the truly remarkable achievements she's made on both the big and small screen. Shows like All That and her very own The Amanda Bynes Show cemented her in the comedy space, and films like She's The Man and Easy A are our generation's classics. Frankly, I've missed her, and I've been one of the many fans quietly wondering — will Amanda Bynes return to acting? Based on a new interview she did with Paper magazine, it sounds like yes.

Bynes revealed to Paper she's been sober for nearly four years now and can clearly look back and see the grip drugs had on her life. As she put it, "It was like an alien had literally invaded my body." Today, she's studying fashion at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in downtown Los Angeles and is slowly catching the acting bug again. She explained she's hoping to use her degree to one day start her own fashion line, but added, "I want to get back into acting first."

Hell yes, please.

Perhaps one of the best parts about the interview is listening to her describe what it was like working on She's the Man and how she claims she played an integral part in launching co-star Channing Tatum's career. Bynes said,

I totally fought for Channing [to get cast in] that movie because he wasn't famous yet. 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!'

Um, I love that.

Despite having the opportunity to get up close and personal with Magic Mike, Bynes says her ultimate acting experience was on the set of Hairspray alongside other great actors like John Travolta, Zac Efron, and Michelle Pfeiffer. "That movie to this day was the most amazing experience I've ever had on a set," she said. Unfortunately, things took a turn for her when she was cast in the movie Hall Pass and eventually ended up leaving production. She explains it was "the mixture of being so high that I couldn't remember my lines and not liking my appearance" that led her to dropping out of the film. She added, "It was definitely completely unprofessional of me to walk off and leave them stranded when they'd spent so much money on a set and crew and camera equipment and everything."

Today, Bynes is flipping her perspective on the acting world and is excited to jump back into it with an old but welcome attitude. She explained she wants to enter the business "kind of the same way I did as a kid, which is with excitement and hope for the best." She concluded,

I think that's kind of how I go about [life] now — like, what's there to lose? I have no fear of the future. I've been through the worst and came out the other end and survived it so I just feel like it's only up from here.

Amanda, I seriously can't wait to see you back on the big or small screen, whatever comes first!

Ready when you are, sister.