ROBOTS
AMANDA BYNES GETS ANIMATED
Amanda Bynes /Robots Interview by Paul Fischer in Los Angeles

Amanda Bynes is part of that new crop of teenage star that continues to take Hollywood by storm balancing successful careers on both the big and
small screen. The attractive young actress rose to fame on Nickelodeon as a preteen starlet and moved on to the WB network for her teenage years. In
1996, she became a regular cast member on the kid's sketch comedy show All That, which first earned her a growing fan base of adoring admirers.

Sticking with Nickelodeon-style broad comedy, she was a panellist on the game show Figure It Out as well as host for the popular variety show The Amanda Show, which won several Kid's Choice awards. After lending her voice to the long-running cartoon Rugrats, Bynes made the big switch from the PG world of Nickelodeon to the more mature world of the WB with a part on the short-lived series The Nightmare Room, narrated by author R.L. Stine. The next year she made her feature film debut in the comedy Big Fat Liar as the
best friend of fellow young superstar Frankie Muniz. In 2002, she launched
the WB sitcom What I Like About You, playing a comedic younger sister who
moves into the trendy Upper West Side apartment of her straight-laced older
sister (Jennie Garth from Beverly Hills 90210). Widely released one day
after her 17th birthday, the romantic comedy What a Girl Wants marked her
first major starring role as Daphne, a girl who goes to England in search of
her father (Colin Firth) and finds romance.

Fans of the actress will next hear her as an energetic and colourful robot
in Robots. Set on a world populated entirely by robots, this is the story of
a young genius, Rodney (Ewan McGregor), who wants to make robots capable of
making the world a better place, but he finds his dream challenged by a
corporate tyrant and a master inventor, while also being seduced by a sexy
corporate robot, Cappy (Halle Berry).

Quiet, serious, and matter-of-fact, Bynes talked to PAUL FISCHER.

Paul Fischer : So Chris Wedge [director] said you have the perfect voice
for an animated
Character?

Bynes : He did? I wonder why?

P.F: Was it offered to you or did you have to fight for it, was it easy
to get?

Bynes : No, I was very lucky they sent me the script and they wanted
me to be Piper so.

P.F: So lets talk to you about the script. Did you laugh right away when
you read it, what was it?

Bynes : You know I loved; I loved the story, which is shine no
matter what you made of. It's like it doesn't matter where you came from or
what you look like but if you have goals and if you want to be something or
whatever it is you want to do the only person who can stop you is yourself.

P.F: Now were you disappointed that you, I mean, every one is in the same
boat, do you get disappointed when you don't get and a chance to work with
an amazing amount of people that are in this movie, I mean, you don't
actually work with Robin Williams you get to work with all these guys ---

Bynes : Yeah I mean it's definitely odd that I'm in a movie with all
these talented people and yet I haven't met them until today. You know, it
it's definitely different but it's exciting. I mean I'm so lucky to be able
to be a part of this movie.

P.F: How do you deal with the voice? I mean what do you try to do a
little bit different?

Bynes : Well it depends on what you're doing. For this they wanted
it to sound like me so I was kind of lucky. I got to have it easy so I just
sort of did a younger version of my voice.

P.F: A younger version how old are you now?

Bynes : I'm eighteen.

P.F: A younger version?

Bynes : Yeah I just, you know.

P.F: A higher, higher?

Bynes : Yeah just sort of a little squeakier and also it is a robot
so, you know, it has to be a little different.

P.F: Did they send to you pictures of what she was going to look like
beforehand?

Bynes : Yes.

P.F: Did you get the feeling of the animation also?

Bynes : Yes they sent me pictures before I signed on to do it of
what it was going to look like; rough ideas, so I definitely thought it
looked very cool.

P.F: What were some of your growing up favourite animated movies and did
you like watching them?

Bynes : Well I love all the Disney movies, because when I was young
there really weren't any..

P.F: Well what were some of the classics you loved?

Bynes : Well I loved Beauty and the Beast that was always one of my
favourites and like The Little Mermaid.

P.F: You spend a lot of time drawing and painting yeah?

Bynes : Yes, I love.I love to .

P.F: What kind of things do you draw? Do you ever see yourself ever
moving into this sort of design element or something like that or is acting
strictly what you want to do?

Bynes : Do you know I want to do there's so much that I want to do
in my life I don't know. I mean I love to draw and I love to paint so I
don't know if I'll ever do it professionally but I definitely enjoy doing
that right now.

P.F: What else do you want to do in your life Amanda? You would want to
do a lot more in your life like what?

Bynes : I mean there's not like one specific thing I want to just do
anything that's good, you know, like I just want to work for a long time so.

P.F: Beyond acting?

Bynes : Ah yeah. I might either want to direct one day, I might,
want to you know, do a play on Broadway I hope.

P.F: A play on Broadway? Are you looking for anything?

Bynes : I always have one eye opened.

P.F: Is there a particular play that you want to do?

Bynes : I would love to do My Fair Lady one day, you never know.

P.F: Well as much as you want to do how do you find time to juggle it
between this, or doing films and a TV show.

Bynes : Well I am lucky because on the show there's a hiatus, you
know there is always a good period of time where I could squeeze in a movie.
Like this summer I did a movie called "Love Wrecked" which I think will be
coming out in spring, so I kind of always have little pieces of time .

P.F: What's "Lovewrecked"?

Bynes : It was directed by Randall Kleiser and I'm very excited.

P.F.: Who else is in it?

P.F: Chris Carmack from the OC yeah and, Jamie Lynn DiScala whose from
the Sopranos. I play a girl Jenny Taylor whose obsessed with this pop star
like a Justin Timberlake of her time or whatever in this movie and she and
he get stuck on this island together. She's followed him on this yacht and
he gets sick and so he falls over and she jumps after him, so throughout
this they get stuck on this island and become stranded. So he has broken
his leg, so she has to get food for them and so one day she like goes to the
trees and she hears la little kid scream, follows the noise and she sees
like somebody being hit with a beach ball it turns out they're actually on
the other side of a resort. She goes back to tell him and, you know, she's
running and he goes "Jenny" and he hugs her and she say's "wait I have
something to tell you" and he goes "I just want you to know that if I could
have been stuck here with anybody I'm so glad I'm stuck here with you." And
so she doesn't let him know. She, she leaves out like he says "what do you
have to tell me?" And she's like "nothing", you know, it's one of those, I
mean wouldn't you when you get to be stuck with the person of your dreams?
So she decides she wants to get to know him a little bit letter so the lie
gets a little sicker and sicker and she comes back wearing like, you know,
lipstick and full hair and make-up because she keeps going back to the
little resort market. He's like "are you, are you, you know, wearing
make-up" and she's you know has to come up with berries. it was a really fun
movie to make, and one that I would want to see myself, so it was really
fun.

P.F: Did you shoot it in Hawaii or where did you shoot it?

Bynes : The Dominican Republic actually.

P.F: What are the challenges of being an eighteen year old, young
attractive actress in Hollywood where there's a kind of a group of you
competing and for the best roles around. I mean is it tough that you compete
with each other?

Bynes : No I think I mean some people do compete. I've never been
the type I've never been, you know, the cut throat type. I mean I've always
had my mind set that in this business there are so many movies to make, so
there's room for all of us. I mean if there was only me I'd be exhausted.

P.F: You seem very aware of your fan base in that, that you are an
inspiration to younger kids of either sex. Do you ever think of yourself as
like okay now I'm eighteen can I grow out of this, can I get away from the
Nickelodeon image and?

Bynes : No I mean I am so lucky that kids like what I've done and,
you know, I'm growing up but .

P.F: So you are looking for grown up role I guess .

Bynes : I don't think anybody's trying to stop me from growing up.
No I mean 'm looking for roles that are right for me at the time I am doing
them and everything I've done has been true to myself and I've never done
anything that I haven't loved and I'm, you know, always true to myself.

P.F: Well what did you do?

P.F: So how do you feel about some of the images that younger girls are
bombarded with and Christine Aguilera kind of thing where they mature and it
becomes this real dirty kind of thing how do you feel about that sort of
image.

Bynes : I mean it's just not me but it's, you know, everybody has
their own thing, you know people grow up differently, you know, Christine
Aguilera, you know, grew up, you know, she was sort of on I think she was on
three, I mean the, the Disney shows, so I mean, you know, everybody wants to
find their own, you know, everybody rebels so.

P.F: Yeah that's what I'm asking you before like if you would, if you
would be asked to light up a cigarette or strip or, you know, like Natalie
Portman or some of these younger actresses are growing up in a, in a film
script would you do that or at this point in your career would you say no?

Bynes : Well at this point in my career I definitely wouldn't do any
of that but that's it and that's where I am right now. I don't think I
would ever do anything like that because I don't really enjoy watching that
myself, so you know but.

P.F: What do you enjoy watching?

Bynes : I love movies that have a good story. I love movies that
make you feel good about yourself but I also love movies make you walk away
thinking about them. I like things that have you know something to them.

P.F: And I take it you're not doing what a lot of the other teenagers
actresses are doing at the moment and recording an album at any time soon?

Bynes : No definitely not.

P.F: Can you sing?

Bynes : I, can and I've actually started doing musical theatre
that's what I started before I did TV so I definitely, you know, enjoy
singing .

P.F: So nobody's ever come up to you with an album idea?

Bynes : Well I mean I, it it's definitely something that I don't
want to do but, you know, everybody always wants to make money off of
anybody talented and, you just have to stay true to yourself.

P.F: What are you doing for your next hiatus? You've got another hiatus
coming up?

Bynes : Well I have two movies that are in the works.

P.F: Can you talk about any of them?

Bynes : I can't.

P.F: None of them?

P.F: What are they.

Bynes : One is sort of a, a mystery type comedy and then the other
one is a comedy.

P.F: What about, what about college and, and other aspirations do you
have any desire to?

Bynes : Yeah I mean I would love to go to college and I definitely
will at some point in my life but right now I'm, you know, I'm doing a show,
I'm you know, doing press for me to be in school I just couldn't be fully
there and I want to really be there.

P.F: What would you like to study?

Bynes : Well I mean I love and fascinated by psychology so that
would be something that I would like to learn more about so anything that
would help me in my life and I am so lucky to be doing what I love, you
know, for a living so I would love to learn something that would just sort
of help me have my best, you know.

P.F: Will you study outside of California would you like to go to an east
coast?

Bynes : Yeah I might, I mean, I love New York and I have always
loved, you know the energy there so I might go there but you know I'm not
ready yet so we'll see.

P.F: You seem to have a pretty grounded sense of yourself which is one of
the things that I have noticed the couple of times I have met you, where did
that come from do you think?

Bynes : I think it's sort of something that you're born with I
really believe that, you know, there's a lot you can learn from being with
people I mean I learn so much from my parents I think they have so much to
do with who I am, but you sort of you are kind of who you are from like you
can kind of tell from five years old who you are going to be, if you're
going to be shy or you're going for things.

P.F: But this industry can change that I mean that can make you it can
give you ego it can .

Bynes : . grounded wise definitely my parents they get all credit
because they, you know, every day are just, you know, they're wonderful
people and I think I, you always look to your parents and I think people who
have problems later on in their life always sort of goes back to things that
their parents didn't do or you know what I mean that sort of, you know,
that's your core so I'm really lucky.

P.F: What else is happening how much longer are you going to be doing the
TV show for?

Bynes : We're in our third season now, I hope to do a fourth season
and then I think I will move on.

P.F: So the fourth season could be the last one?

Bynes : Yes.

P.F: Is that all your contracted for .

Bynes : . I can't talk about that.

P.F: Why did you want to do television in the first place, I mean was it,
did it represent a degree of stability in your career? I mean you were
doing fine you were starting to break out in the movies and.

Bynes : Well I really wanted to do something that was a little bit
older than my other TV show for, you know, teenage girls and young adults
just to sort of, just because I was growing up I wanted to do something like
that and, you know, I, I love, you know, watching those sorts of shows so I
wanted to do it and then there's no rush in other work any movies at the
time so that was a good show I said why not?

P.F: How do you relax?

Bynes : I try to get like massages, facials, I need to have a thing
in that nature, you know relax, meditation type things but I love to go to
the movies and, you know, go out to eat with my friends.

P.F: What are you going to do this summer coming, you know, thinking
ahead this summer what's do like concerts you want to see, any books you
want to read or any movies you want to go to or something like that?

Bynes : I don't know I know thinking about it, I know I've got to
get a list going nothing yet.

Paul Fischer