"Twelfth Night," by William Shakespeare, is a comedy that involves a shipwreck on the coast of the island of Illyria. After two siblings believe each other to be dead, Viola, the sister of the two, decides to disguise herself as a man and work under the authority of Duke Orsino. This devious disguise is the origin of a love triangle formed by three of the main characters, creating comedy throughout the play. This play has continued to provide comedy in modern day entertainment through adaptations of Shakespeare's work. Specifically, Andy Fickman's 2006 adaptation of the Twelfth Night named "She's The Man" gave Shakespeare a new audience and allowed a modern society to enjoy the works of Shakespeare in a more contemporary view. In this film adaptation, Viola dresses as a man in order to replace her brother at boarding school and compete on the men's soccer team. Much like in Shakespeare's original "Twelfth Night," a love triangle is formed around Viola's disguise, creating complications that result in humor, even for a modern day audience. .
The character of Viola is played by Amanda Bynes and shares many of the same characteristics as the original Viola, although, differences in the adaptations are evident. For example, Viola dresses as her brother in order to achieve a personal goal, opposed to in the original play where Viola creates her own disguise as Cesario in order to protect her true identity and achieve love. Over all, Andy Fickman stays true to Shakespeare's original Character Viola, by incorporating the same personality characteristics and humor in his adaptation. .
In the film adaptation "She's the Man," Andy Fickman makes his first connection between the original works of Shakespeare and his own through the personalities of the characters, while casting Amanda Bynes as Viola. Amanda Bynes on her own was a very beautiful modern day high school student, who was very popular during her career.