Drake Bell is still amazed by the talent Amanda Bynes had as a young girl.
During a recent interview, the Drake and Josh alum praised his former All That costar for her natural acting skills while noting the pair hasn’t spoken amid the severe mental health struggles Bynes has faced throughout the majority of her adult life.
"I haven’t spoken to Amanda in many, many years," Bell confirmed, admitting they "unfortunately" no longer share the strong bond they had as child stars on Nickelodeon back in the day, when they both allegedly suffered severe trauma while working for the network.
"We had such a great connection," shared Bell, 37, as he continued: "When I first started working on The Amanda Show, I [already] grew up with her on All That, so getting to work on The Amanda Show, I felt like I was getting to work with Gilda Radner."
"I mean, I was [like], ‘this is incredible.’ She [was] a huge star to me at 12 years old," Bell confessed after comparing Bynes, 38, to the late comedian, who was one of the seven original cast members of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" skit on Saturday Night Live from its start in 1975 until her departure in 1980.
Further gushing over his time with the She’s the Man actress, Bell explained: "Working together, we had an instant connection. We were able to establish and create wonderful characters together. We played off each other so well."
"We ended up having a really great bond working together, and I learned so much from her. I mean, the talent just oozed out of her," he declared. "There was something I saw from Amanda that was just so intriguing and impressive."
"It’s so rare in this industry," he mentioned before additionally grouping Bynes with icons Dean Martin, Elvis Presley and Lucille Ball.
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"It’s just effortless. Some people are funny but you can see them working. With her, it was like Lucille Ball. It just was natural. It oozed out of her," he reiterated.
Bell’s recent interview comes after the release of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.
In the bombshell Max and Discovery+ docuseries, Bell opened up about being groomed and sexually assaulted by his dialogue coach Brian Peck when he was a minor.
Bell had a tough time going into detail about what specifically went down roughly two decades ago, telling the cameras, "imagine the worst thing someone could do to someone as sexual assault. I don’t know how else to put it."
Access Hollywood interviewed Bell.