Almost every child star seems to go through some kind of period of aggressive transformation. Britney shaved her head. Daniel Radcliffe got naked with horses and stuff for the play "Eqqus." And now we can add Amanda Bynes' name to the list.
The former Nickelodeon star, perhaps desperate to make a similar statement about herself, stepped out recently with a radically new look, something of a cross between Ke$ha, Lindsay Lohan, and Miley Cyrus. While hitting up an ATM in Studio City, California, Bynes showed off her newly bleached hair, which she paired with an American flag blouse, animal-print Daisy Dukes, and gold-studded black leather flats.
Most famous for her appearances on TV shows like "All That" and "The Amanda Show," and movies such as "What A Girl Wants" and "Hairspray," Bynes' unrecognizable makeover certainly distances her from the cutesy-precocious persona she cultivated before retiring from acting in 2010. As Bynes put it on Twitter, "Being an actress isn't as fun as it may seem," she tweeted. "If I don't love something, I stop doing it. I don't love acting anymore, so I've stopped doing it."
This is likely the look that was described by the motorist Bynes, 26, struck with her BMW on August 4. The woman, named Kisa, told TMZ she didn't realize she'd been rear-ended by Bynes because she "looked like a hot mess" before she fled the scene.
Police announced Friday that they will send that hit-and-run report to prosecutors within the next week, and then it will be up to the L.A. City Attorney whether or not to file a misdemeanor charge against Bynes. The former child star is already facing a DUI charge (she struck a police cruiser following a night of clubbing in West Hollywood), for which she plead not guilty to in June. Around that time, Bynes took to her Twitter to defend herself - and beg for help from none other than the president. "Hey @BarackObama... I don't drink," she tweeted. "Please fire the cop who arrested me. I also don't hit and run. The end."
However, it's actually far from the end for Bynes, who was also accused of two more hit and runs on May 5 and May 27 following her DUI. If convicted of the April incident, she faces a maximum penalty as a first-time offender of 48 hours in jail, three years of probation, and a nine-month alcohol program. She could also lose her driver's license for a year.
And those aren't Bynes' only problems. As the Daily Beast reports, towards the "end" of her career, Byne's mental health might have become an issue. Sources said her CAA agents had a please-get-help talk with her this year, and that Bynes has so far resisted. And her parents, whom she has supported for years, have not been able to get the actress back on track. Her friends are concerned about her behavior.
Reps for Bynes did not respond to a request for comment about her retirement. Her personal publicist, Melissa Raubvogel, said no such event had happened with CAA.