Amanda Bynes is ready to make a comeback

Amanda Bynes gracing the cover of Paper magazine’s 2018 “Break the Internet” issue is a fresh-faced. Dressed in a plaid suit jacket over a simple white button-down blouse and blue jeans with her honey-blond hair falling casually over one shoulder, the 32-year-old former Nickelodeon star exudes confidence — looking every bit like the successful Hollywood starlet fans hoped she would become.

Now Bynes, who is pursuing a degree at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, is determined to show that she’s ready to make a comeback, reaffirming her goal to return to acting. She opened up about her tumultuous past to Paper’s executive editor, Abby Schreiber, for the magazine’s cover story, published Monday. Bynes chronicled struggling with her appearance and substance abuse — “It became a really dark, sad world for me,” she said — and repeatedly expressed remorse for the erratic behavior that fueled her swift descent from perfect child star to tabloid fodder.

It’s been almost a decade since the actress announced her retirement, and those years have been marred by a number of arrests and a public breakdown complete with bizarre Twitter rants, bad wigs and even a brief stint in a psychiatric hospital.