Taran Killam Says His Role on ‘The Amanda Show’ Launched His Career ArticlePure

Saturday Night Live alumnus Taran Killam is crediting his former costar Amanda Bynes with helping to launch his career.

On the May 14, 2025, episode of David Spade and Dana Carvey’s Fly on the Wall podcast, the 43-year-old actor spoke about his first role ever, on the 1999 to 2002 Nickelodeon series The Amanda Show, starring a young Bynes.

“It was my first job, literally the last week of high school I got cast on her show,” Killam said of Bynes’ variety series. “We worked together for three weeks then. And then I went away to college, I didn’t have an agent anymore, I was focused on school. They called me back to do more, and they helped me get an agent.”

He continued: “Being on The Amanda Show started my grown-up acting career.”

Killam added that he and Bynes were “friends” who went on to film another project together, the 2002 film, Big Fat Liar. 

“And she was the best,” Killam said of Bynes. “It was a very important relationship to me in my life.”

Killam added that Bynes was “14 or 15” during the filming of the show — yet had a comedic prowess well beyond her years.

“She’s one of the most talented people,” Killam added. “At that age, too — to be at the full Lucille Ball-Carol Burnett dynamic. She’s truly one of the best.”

Bynes, now 39, rose to fame on Nickelodeon after joining the cast of kids’ sketch comedy show All That in 1996 at 10 years old. That role helped her land her own Nickelodeon show, The Amanda Show, which skyrocketed Bynes’ status as a celebrity.

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While the actress’ résumé continued to grow after her Nickelodeon stint, she ultimately quit acting in 2010 following public struggles with substance abuse, mental health and legal issues. Bynes spent the next decade in and out of mental health facilities and was placed under the conservatorship of her parents, Lynn and Rick Bynes, for nearly nine years.

Bynes provided an update on her mental health on her Instagram Stories in March 2024, revealing to fans that, though she had spent the previous several months dealing with depression, she was “doing a lot better now.”