If you grew up watching Nickelodeon between 1999 to 2002, you may have been quite familiar with actress Amanda Bynes who had her own show on the channel. She had been a combination of pretty and funny, which had been quite the rare qualities in a teenager back then. In the later stage of her life, stardom began to consume her. Various reports on the western media outlets have claimed that her rise to fame had devastating consequences on her personal life.
Like most child stars she had made her transition from commercials, to television, to her own show on Nickelodeon, to Hollywood projects. But soon the young woman started emerging as a sex symbol when she posed for a cover on Maxim in 2010. Although of late, she has not been receiving the best of press coverages, let us remember the time when she forced us all to be strong, loving and independent.
What A Girl Wants: Her simple efforts while working beside Colin Firth
The film, What A Girl Wants had been one of the most popular films of Amanda Bynes where she had been in the lead role. She had worked opposite a refined Colin Firth, but Amanda worked with ease owing to the stardom she had brought in to the screen as well while sharing the space with the famous British actor.
In What A Girl Wants Daphne Reynolds had been a happy character, with a few personal issues as well. She had been raised by a single mother in New York and all she ever wanted in life was to see her father up close and have a normal interaction with him, like any father-daughter relationship.
She had literally crossed all boundaries to make this moment happen and did not let her soon-to-be stepmother or her soon-to-be stepsister ruin that moment for her. She fought the emotional battle alone, without support from her father and brought her parents back together without adding an element of poison in anyone's business.
On any given day one would hardly bother to talk about Daphne since What A Girl Wants isn't exactly a classical masterpiece starring Colin Firth. But can you imagine any other mainstream film bringing out the contrast in personalities between an American girl Daphne, from Chinatown, Mulberry streets, and the British snob Clarrissa, whose aim in life had been to gain a social stand in England.
Amanda Bynes as Daphne Reynolds had been a character who had universal appeal with all middle-class teenagers. She helped her mother out with her duties while filling out college applications. She worked tremendously hard to get into a worthy college. She also chose to take a break from regular life and travel to another country to fulfill her personal wishes to know her father.
