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Director Gluck will talking about it Amanda Bynes and her last screen role. The actress disappeared from the scene after her role in the 2010 film “Easy A”, in which she starred opposite Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Lisa Kudrowand Stanley Tucci. The film, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, was a huge financial success, bringing in $75 million against a budget of just $8 million. The film earned Stone a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical, and won the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Comedy.
‘Easy A’ director talks Amanda Bynes’ final screen role
In 2010, Amanda Bynes played little girl Marianne Bryant in “Easy A,” opposite Emma Stone’s Olive Penderghast. When Olive’s little white lie gets out of control, she jumps into her new provocative persona and sews a red “A” on her clothes, echoing Hester Prynne’s punishment in “The Scarlet Letter”.
Director Will Gluck recently admitted that the role was “very difficult for” Bynes while speaking to Jess Lucero on the Plus One podcast on Wednesday, October 21. “But she was really good.”
Will Gluck said he was “shocked” by Amanda Bynes’ struggle
Although Bynes found success as a child star, she gave up acting after her role in “Easy A” and famously struggled with mental health and substance abuse issues beginning in 2012.
Her parents granted her asylum from 2013 to 2022. During that time, she was subjected to psychiatric detention and inpatient treatment by the police on several occasions.
Looking back, Gluck said he was “shocked” to see what her career had become, telling Lucero she was “100 percent a pro.”
“Her parents were ready too,” he continued. “I was shocked after all this happened, and everyone said to me at the time, ‘Did you see anything?’ I said, “Literally, not at all.”
Amanda Bynes never auditioned for her role in ‘Easy A’
It also revealed that the actress did not really audition for her role in “Easy A”.
“She didn’t audition for it Easy Abut we met, however, beforehand,” said the director. “She was one of the few people who did not audition for that film. We met for a long time. And she was really good on that set.”
Lucero praised Bynes, saying she was “difficult” with her performances. She went on to say that the “She’s the Man” star was actually one of the actresses who got her interested in pursuing a career in the entertainment industry.
“She was so good, too,” agreed Gluck, noting that her career was a “weird” one.
Amanda Bynes revealed that she “literally couldn’t stand her ‘easy’ role.”
While Gluck had nothing but praise for the actress, Bynes told Paper magazine in 2018 that she hated her role when she watched the film.
“I literally couldn’t stand my scene in that movie, and I didn’t like my performance. I was convinced I had to stop acting after I saw it,” she said, though she admitted that drug use may have changed her perception of the movie.
“I was high on marijuana when I saw that, but for some reason it started to really affect me. I don’t know if it was drug-induced psychosis or what, but it affected my brain in a different way than it affects other people. It completely changed the way I thought about things.”
Amanda Bynes released a new song in 2026
Bynes is now sober and working to change her life. In 2022, she told PEOPLE magazine that she has been “working hard” to improve her health so she can live and work independently.
“I would like to thank my fans for their love and well wishes at this time. I would also like to thank my lawyer and my parents for their support over the past nine years,” she said at the time.
“Over the past several years, I have worked hard to improve my health so that I can live and work independently, and I will continue to prioritize my health in this next chapter,” she said.
She attempted a comeback in April 2026 with a new song, “Girlfriend,” with Zabba and Fenix Flexin. Juan McLean wrote and produced the single.
