One of the few Black stars to appear on Nickelodeon’s hit show, “The Amanda Bynes Show,” recalled an incident where the white lead of the program spat in her face during filming — and was not stopped or reprimanded.
Actress Raquel Lee Bolleau spoke about the experience on the fifth episode of the “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” docuseries titled, “Breaking the Silence.”
“The Literals” skit and script called for Amanda Bynes to do several yucky spit takes, not uncommon for the network that celebrated people getting slimed. Bynes’ character was offered some lemon water which was supposed to be too sour. After sipping it, she spat the water out on Bolleau and a third actress.
Bolleau, who was the only Black girl in the scene, felt there was something different about the segment, noting that instead of the projectile going out on the set, the spit was repeatedly sprayed in her face.
“Everybody thought it was so funny. Everybody’s laughing, but I did not find it funny,” Bolleau shares. “The third time, I was infuriated.”
Adding, “The third time I was infuriated. Like, I was so mad that the director hurried and put me on the side of the set and was like, ‘Listen, Raquel. Breathe in. Breathe out. She’s the star of the show.”
Even when the then-teen star complained, Bolleau said she was told, “Don’t make too much of a problem. I’m going to ask [Bynes] not to spit in your face. But you have to keep your cool.”
On the docuseries, Bryan Hearne, another Black actor on the show, and his mother Tracey Brown were asked what they thought about the skit and Bolleau’s recollection of the incident. They called it “racist.”
“Oh my god, that hit me really hard,” Hearne added.
Now-37-year-old Bolleau said that she was well aware that she had to work extra hard to capture the attention of the executive producer of the show and network’s golden child, Dan Schneider.
Raquel didn't deserve that poor mistreatment. Nickelodeon sure is racist! #QuietOnSet #BreakingTheSilence #CancelNickelodeon
— James D20 (@BeastBoy_stereo) April 8, 2024
“I knew that I had what it took to shine,” she explained. “I was ready. I loved it, but it hurt me so much, week after week, coming on and really feeling like the Black friend, that was it. ‘Oh, we’ll put her in a quick little scene. Oh, she’ll have a line here. Oh, she’ll play the bully here.’”
While interviewing about the incident with Rolling Stone, she revisited the spitting scene. She said she still knows the emotion she felt at the moment: humiliation.
“Here I am, a young Black girl behind the stage feeling humiliated,” Bolleau shared with the pop culture magazine.
“Every time she spit in my face, they had to reset my makeup, reset my hair every time because she was taking a gulp of water and spitting it out in my face and I could not take it anymore,” she bemoaned.
Bolleau starred in 14 episodes of “The Amanda Show” from 1999-2000 and she noted the “daily struggles on set to find acceptance, being the token ‘black friend’ always!”
“I know that everything happens for a reason and we all deserve to heal from our trauma, but this is so hard to take in,” she expressed on Instagram after watching the series debut on March 17 and March 18.
“I struggled to be apart of this documentary because although this industry has caused me a lot of pain, there was still something in me that felt I shouldn’t say anything that I went through because ‘what if people don’t want to work with me anymore’ but then I realized, I’ve been fighting to be seen and heard for sooooo long in this industry,” she added.
Still, even after pushing through the scene after the first season, she was replaced by a white male teen, Josh Peck. She went on to star in other shows and series such as “The Hughleys” and “The Proud Family.”
The bonus episode of “Quiet on Set” was created after the first four were created because of the overwhelming outcry from the public and the other stories still left to be told.
Directors Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz explained that through their research for the project, they discovered allegations of sexual abuse, gender discrimination lawsuits, racially charged comments, and sexually explicit jokes connected to the platform designed to produce content exclusively for children.
“The documentary really ignited a conversation,” Schwartz said. “Like a movement of people talking about this space and we wanted to have an opportunity for some of our participants to continue that conversation.”
Jason Sarlanis, President of Turner Networks’ ID & HLN, in conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, disclosed that the original four-part series, “Quiet on Set.” The groundbreaking docuseries has garnered approximately 20 million viewers, making it the largest audience for an unscripted series on Max to date.
Bynes did not participate nor has spoken out about the docuseries. Sources close to her parents, Rick and Lynn Bynes, said the family was approached to participate but chose not to speak on the project to the public because she did not have a “bad experience,” TMZ reported. It also states that they were “saddened and disgusted by the allegations” after watching the documentary.
Schneider was accused of creating a toxic working environment and engaging in inappropriate behavior with 10-year-old Bynes, such as getting back rubs from the child star. He is also accused of writing sexually suggestive jokes for his child actors with inappropriate visuals.
