What this girl wants is for people to understand why she lights her Instas the way she does.
Amanda Bynes has stared in some of Hollywood's hottest films, including Easy A, Hairspray and What A Girl Wants, but on March 13, the 35-year-old actress took to Instagram to reveal one particularly harsh note she once got from an unnamed director.
"The reason I don't usually look great in paparazzi pictures is because I'm squinting in the sun," she explained in the caption of a selfie video. "The videos and pictures I post are in a flattering light, or in the shade outside, without the sun blasting on my face."
She continued, "I once did a movie where the director told me that in certain lights, I looked like a monster."
In the video, Amanda showed off glowing skin, groomed eyebrows and pouty lips. Along with a black graphic T-shirt, the Nickelodeon alum sported a septum piercing and her now-signature facial heart tattoo, which she recently explained she is in the process of removing.
She activated her new Instagram account earlier this month after filing to terminate her nearly decade-long conservatorship—controlled by her mother Lynn Bynes—which was put in place following her 5150 psychiatric hospitalization in 2013.
Amanda has been candid about her struggles with mental health over the years, telling Paper Magazine in November 2018, "I just had no purpose in life. I'd been working my whole life and [now] I was doing nothing."
Today, the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising graduate—who is still going strong with fiancé Paul Michael, whom she began dating in 2019—seems to be focusing taking more control of her life.
Some of her latest creative projects include releasing a rap track and working on new fragrance, according to her IG bio.
Her mom Lynn has said she supports her daughter's conservatorship coming to an end—which will be addressed in a hearing scheduled for March 22.
"Once the conservatorship is terminated, she'll be able to get married, live wherever she likes and travel freely wherever she wants to go, among other things," a source close to Amnda told E! News last month. "Nobody is really sure right now what's next for her, but whatever it is, Amanda's mom knows that based on the reports they've gotten, Amanda is determined, successful and able to manage her day-to-day life and well-being."