She’s not loose, just a little Lucy
Amanda Bynes speaks quickly, so when the 19-year-old talks up her new movie comedy, “She’s the Man,” she covers lots of ground – starting with English literature.
Much as Bynes’ favorite teen comedy, “10 Things I Hate About You,” updated William Shakespeare‘s “The Taming of the Shrew,” “She’s the Man” is a contemporary spin on Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.”
That got her attention, as did the producers’ willingness to let her help reshape the script, including making the humor subtler.
“I didn’t want it to be young – more of an adult comedy,” says Bynes. “I’m 19, and I am the demographic, and they were, like, ‘Tell us what kids want to see. We don’t know.’ “
She also liked that “She’s the Man” lets her play a high school student who pretends to be a boy in order to make the soccer team.
“That’s a big part of what appealed to me because, as a girl, I’m never in the guy’s bathroom or the locker room, but I got to go there,” she says. “And I think a lot of girls could relate to that.”
What sealed the deal on transforming herself from female to male was listening to a song by Jack Black‘s band, Tenacious D, every day before filming.
“I can’t even say the name,” says Bynes. “I wouldn’t want kids to hear it. It’s a really dirty song with gross guy things in it.
“I didn’t tell anyone about it, but it really helped me,” she says. “It’s a song I’ve hated before. I used to think, ‘How do guys listen to that?’ But it was my version of a disgusting guy thing.”
Just don’t expect to see her doing any disgusting girl things – like wrapping her car around a paparazzo, sloshing a Cosmo as she exits a club or “accidentally” flashing a photographer.
“I don’t see how people can be in the limelight and do those things. People who choose that, I find it hard to respect,” Bynes says.
It’s not just about not wanting naked pictures of her on the Internet for her dad to see. Bynes, whose beverage of choice is sugar-free Red Bull, says she’s also mindful that her fans are more likely to quaff apple juice than appletinis.
“What I do, like it or not, is seen by kids,” she says. “I don’t feel like I could go to a party and get smashed and make a fool of myself because people do pay attention.”
Bynes has razor-sharp timing and click-wheel-sized eyes, but her greatest gift is her ability to do pratfalls and double takes.
So where does that gift for falling on her face come from? Why, Lucille Ball.
“Throughout the years, I believe you have an idol and you like that, so you become that, and I do love Lucy, who was very physical,” Bynes says. “When I was a kid, it’s who I laughed at and who I wanted to be.”
The birthday bunch
Producer Carl Reiner is 84. Actor Hal Linden is 75. Singer Jerry Reed is 69. Actor William Hurt is 56. Director Spike Lee is 49. Actress Theresa Russell is 49. Actress Holly Hunter is 48. Model Kathy Ireland is 43. Actress Liza Snyder (“Yes, Dear”) is 38. Actor Michael Rapaport (“Boston Public”) is 36. Actor Alexander Chaplin (“Spin City”) is 35. Singer Chester Bennington (Linkin Park) is 30. Actor Michael Genadry (“Ed”) is 28.