How Amanda Bynes Changed Channing Tatum's Career

"She's The Man" may be considered a cult classic, but Amanda Bynes shared that she doesn't have fond memories of filming the flick.

The film, which was a playful take on Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," follows the story of a teenage girl pretending to be her twin brother to get the chance to play soccer again. While audiences found it simultaneously hilarious and impressive that Bynes managed to pull off a dual role, she revealed that doing so made her feel insecure. "When the movie came out and I saw it, I went into a deep depression for 4-6 months because I didn't like how I looked when I was a boy," she told Paper, adding that seeing herself in a totally different get-up opposite what she was used to was "a super strange and out-of-body experience" and "really put [her] into a funk."

Then again, if there was anything positive to come out of that experience, it's that she was able to help catapult Channing Tatum to superstardom. As Bynes was the first to be cast in the film, she played a big part in assembling the rest of the ensemble, and apparently, it's all thanks to her that Tatum was seriously considered by the producers at all.

Channing Tatum apparently owes Amanda Bynes big time. If it weren't for her, another actor would have probably taken his role in "She's The Man."

In the same Paper interview, Bynes shared that she made a case for Tatum to star as her love interest in the film. At the time, Tatum was only a fledgling actor, and his only other acting credit was a small role in "Coach Carter," in which he starred alongside Samuel L. Jackson. "I totally fought for Channing [to get cast in] that movie because he wasn't famous yet," Bynes recalled. "He'd just done a Mountain Dew commercial and I was like, 'This guy's a star — every girl will love him!' But [the producers] were like, 'He's so much older than all of you!' And I was like, 'It doesn't matter! Trust me!'"

They did trust her, and the rest, as they say, is history. But of course, it wasn't like Tatum didn't blow the casting directors away. Director Andy Fickman told E! News that the "Step Up" actor impressed everyone during his audition. "We were looking at everybody for that role and then he came in," he said. "He walks in and you know, Channing was never a kid who was this polished Hollywood guy who had been acting since the age of three... He was not that kid. His charisma, which now the world knows in triplicate, was there from day one." 

Channing Tatum took no offense when Amanda Bynes shared that she took part in shaping his career. "She definitely helped, Man, I thank her every day," he told Sky News in 2018. "She helped me. She got me in that movie. I'm so happy that she's killing it now and back on her feet. I love her."

Speaking with ET, Tatum expressed his gratitude towards Bynes for her efforts, although he admitted that he had no idea how negotiations for casting took place. "I guess she sort of told me [that she fought for me]. I love her," he said. And while they haven't been in touch, he always wants what's best for her. "She was just so alive," he said of her performance in the film. "You never knew what was going to come out her mouth, she was just on fire... I haven't seen her in so long. I love you, Amanda, and I hope you're doing well." Meanwhile, Amanda is set to reunite with her Nickelodeon co-stars for her first appearance post-conservatorship, and we can't wait for it.