The girl next door with the hot set of pipes, Mandy Moore started out in music and later
flawlessly launched an acting career — and she's not slowing down.
Let's take a closer look at her stunning transformation from Florida kid to famous star.
Karaoke kid
Amanda Leigh Moore was born on April 10, 1984 in New Hampshire, and later raised in Orlando,
Florida.
According to New York Magazine, Moore first wanted to sing after watching the musical
Guys and Dolls at age six.
"Take back your pearls, what made you think I was one of those girls"
And for young Moore, the appeal wasn't in the fame, but the music.
She told Cosmopolitan, "I don't think I had the aspiration to be a star growing up.
I loved Madonna and Bette Midler, and I had my karaoke machine and would sing their songs."
FedEx overnight success
As a teen, Moore was overheard singing by a FedEx delivery person named Victor Cade,
who then gave her demo to a friend who worked at Sony Music.
In a 1999 fairytale story, the 15-year-old Moore joined the NSYNC tour, with her first
single, "Candy."
"I'm cravin for you, I'm missing you like candy, yea yea yea."
But not everything was so sweet.
She later told Cosmopolitan, "When I was first starting out in the music industry, I was
always coupled in the same sentence with Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera
— and I was probably the worst of them.
I think a lot of people back then thought, Mandy Moore…she'll probably go back to where
she came from in a year.
But I've created my own path, and I'm content with it."
Totally '90s
It would be wrong to talk about Moore's pop fame and not bring up that sick '90s fashion.
Moore told People, "I started when I was 15…I had no idea who I was, or what I was doing,
and so there's a lot from that time period…like leather pants with fringe on them.
In the 'Candy' video, I decided it was really cool to tie a leather ribbon around [my arm].
There were some really questionable choices."
Hey, questionable or not, they were all fabulously 90s.
"Tell me how much for your love"
Screen queen
Moore got her start in acting with Dr. Dolittle 2 and The Princess Diaries.
But it was in 2002's A Walk to Remember, that the 17-year-old showed off her chops.
As she told The Huffington Post, her co-star, Shane West, helped her succeed in her first
major role.
She said, "I was so fresh-faced and naïve.
I felt incredibly lucky right off the bat that I had someone who was as willing to work
with me and who was patient and understanding."
She described to People how trading in her blonde locks for brunette made a difference
for her Jamie Sullivan character, saying, "It came at a time in my life when I was only
seen from the pop music landscape and through that lens...There was a real significance
in the way that people saw me, but also in the way that I carried myself and that I saw
myself."
Passion for fashion
Wanting to be seen as a serious actress, Moore told Elle, "I think Saved! was the beginning
for me.
It was the start of people saying, 'Hey, maybe she's a serious actress.
Maybe she's in this for the long haul.'
And once you have that feeling, doing work you're really proud of, you want more of it."
"Jesus, he loves you!"
"You don't know the first thing about love."
"I am FILLED with Christ's love!"
In 2005, she started her own fashion line, Mblem.
Although the line only lasted three years, Moore told WWD, "I love the fashion world.
I'm fascinated by it.
I'm humbled by it…
If I were to dip my toe back in there, it would have to be the right situation…a great
partnership that could represent a true reflection of me and my ideas.
So next go round, that needs to be top of the list."
That princess life
In 2010, a 26-year-old Moore voiced Rapunzel in the Disney movie Tangled.
She told Collider, "It was a lot of fun.
I never had the opportunity to do something quite like this.
I felt like it really…engaged that side of me that is a huge fan of musicals and dream
about doing a musical one day."
But being a princess ain't easy.
She said, "I was there in the moment, in the studio, going, 'Oh, okay, right,' I'm not
just suddenly being Mandy and singing.
You know, I have to be Rapunzel and so there is a sense of maintaining this character that
was really interesting to me."
"Just smell the grass, the dirt, just like I dreamed they'd be."
Using her voice
In 2012, the 28-year-old spoke with Women's Health about working with the Gynecologic
Cancer Foundation on a new campaign called "Reality Check: What Young Women Don't Know
About Cervical Cancer."
She said, "As a young woman, I wanted to spread the word to other young women out there that
we have the power to protect ourselves against cervical cancer."
She remained optimistic during a difficult time
In 2015, Moore and husband, musician Ryan Adams, officially split and filed for divorce,
after almost six years together.
Moore opened up at the Television Critics Association tour, saying, "It's tough.
Life is not easy…I think it's been great to be able to take all of the chapters in
my life and be able to pour it into a job like this because it all helps.
It's all fuel."
She became a TV mom
Fall 2016 brought Moore to the small screen as Rebecca Pearson on NBC's hit drama This
Is Us.
When Moore received the script for the show, she wasn't in any mood to read anymore pilots
that didn't have a prayer of being picked up.
But once she dove in, she realized this was different.
She told Vulture, "When I first read the [pilot] script, my jaw was on the ground after finishing
the last couple scenes, and then I went back to the first page and started rereading it.
I really wanted to be a part of it."
"It's too bad you guys don't have any chemistry."
"We really, really dislike each other"
Moore described the cast's rare chemistry, saying, "I love it!
[...] We had a cast dinner a couple of weeks ago, and we're all in like a text chain together
and everyone's like, 'Hey Mom and Dad, thank you so much for planning that dinner.'
It's pretty ridiculous considering that I'm younger than all of my children."
"I fall a little bit more in love with you everyday.
In you, I have found my soulmate."
So much Moore
As This Is Us is slated for future seasons, Moore seems truly satisfied.
In a 2016 interview with Byrdie, she spoke of the transition from her past to her present.
Remembering the start of her music career, she said, "Oh god, I was just a clueless suburban
mall teenager from Orlando…
You couldn't pay me to go back."
Today, she's totally cool with being older and wiser, and optimistic about the future.
She said, "I'm totally ready.
I can't wait until the day when watching 60 Minutes is perfectly acceptable for my age...I
say bring it on."
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