Amanda Bynes Opens Up About Her Past Breakdown

Amanda, please! Giving her first interview in four years, Amanda Bynes talked about being three years sober with Diana Madison of Hollyscoop/The Lowdown. It sounds like she's doing great, which is also great, because the actor and former Nickelodeon star went through a very concerning breakdown in 2012, dealing with mental health issues and substance abuse. But as she told Madison, she is "doing great... really great." The 31-year-old was totally chill and up for talking about some of her questionable actions during her spiral, and Bynes' complete honesty is that of someone who's at peace with their not-so-great past.

So, where is Bynes now? She's really turned it around, and it's wonderful to hear her say that she's three years sober. She is currently enrolled in a fashion program at FIDM. "I love it. I've learned how to sew, I've made patterns, and I want to start a clothing line in the future," she said. She's also picked up some very wholesome extracurriculars: "Other than that I hike, I go spinning — I take spinning classes. And I feed the homeless," which she called "interesting and fun." Bynes in this interview seems a lot more like the person who was hilarious in She's The Man and Easy A than the one who went through a breakdown, which became publicly evident in 2012 when she was arrested for a DUI.

In the interview with Madison, Bynes is also open and honest about one of her most bizarre tweets. Bynes' Twitter became a spectacle where she tweeted shocking, cruel, and sometimes indecipherable messages like calling President Obama and Michelle Obama ugly. The one Madison wanted to know about was one of the most notorious: "I want Drake to murder my vagina."

"I actually wasn't being insincere... I was serious! But I was also on drugs. So that was my way of saying, 'Let's do it man,' but I was on drugs and trying to be hilarious." Accountability! It's not easy to so breezily own up to something that embarrassing. I wonder if Drake will take this admission as an apologetic explanation — he commented on the tweet back in 2013 and called it "weird and disturbing," and said he wasn't sure it was actually Bynes tweeting from the account.

Bynes also said in the interview that she wants to return to acting. "I want to do TV. Maybe a few guest spots on TV shows I'm a fan of, and maybe a TV show that I'm the star of." I know there will never be another iteration, but I was a huge fan of The Amanda Show, so I'd probably watch anything starring Bynes.

And while it is really great to see her doing so well, we can't forget that Bynes' breakdown was more salacious because of the voyeuristic way the public ate it up. She was called "crazy," "schizophrenic," all the more inappropriate and offensive as she was dealing with serious mental health issues and was in fact placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold in 2014. It's no wonder that she wanted to lie very, very low for the last few years. Her level of chill now seems indicative of her want to really move forward, but she's still willing to be honest about some darker times. And that is truly great.