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Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore
(born April 10, 1984) is an American pop singer and
actress. She grew up in Florida and came to fame as a
teenager in the early 2000s, after the release of her
teen-oriented pop albums So Real, I Wanna Be with You,
Mandy Moore, and Coverage. Moore has branched out into a
film career, starring in 2002's A Walk to Remember and
later appearing in the lead roles of other movies also
aimed at teenage audiences.
Two of her later films, American Dreamz
and Saved!, were satires in which Moore portrayed darker
characters than in her previous roles. Moore's private
life, including her relationships with tennis player
Andy Roddick and actors Wilmer Valderrama and Zach
Braff, has been much discussed in the media. In 2007,
Moore is scheduled to star in several films and release
a new album, Wild Hope.
Early life: Moore was born in Nashua, New
Hampshire to Stacy (a former newspaper reporter) and Don
Moore (a pilot for American Airlines). She has Irish and
Cherokee heritage on her father's side; her maternal
grandfather was Jewish, and her English maternal
grandmother was a professional dancer at the theater
district in the West End of London, as well as a Wren
during World War II; the two met and eloped to the
United States after Moore's maternal grandfather, an
American soldier, was stationed in London during WWII.
Moore has two brothers, Scott and Kyle;
she grew up in Altamonte Springs, Florida, outside of
Orlando, moving there shortly after her birth because of
her father's job. She was raised in the Catholic
religion (although she is no longer a practicing
Catholic)[5] and attended Bishop Moore High School, a
Catholic school in Orlando, as well as Lake Brantley
High School in Altamonte Springs.
Moore's interest in singing grew after seeing the
musical Oklahoma!; she was also encouraged to perform by
her maternal grandmother, who was her inspiration. Some
of Moore's first public exposure occurred when she sang
the national anthem at several Florida sporting events.
She subsequently came to the attention of the head of
A&R at Epic Records after his friend, a FedEx
employee, overheard her as she sang at a recording
studio. She was then signed to a record deal with the
label.
Music career, 1999–2002: Early pop albums:
Moore toured with the Backstreet Boys throughout 1999.
Her first album, So Real, was released in December that
year and reached number thirty-one on the U.S. Billboard
200 album chart. At the time of the album's release,
reviewers considered Moore the latest in a series of
heavily-marketed female singers described as "pop
princesses", akin to Britney Spears, Christina
Aguilera and Jessica Simpson.
Entertainment Weekly's review noted that
Moore's songs, revolving around
"not-yet-experienced love", were performed
with "suffocating professionalism", and that
the album's ballads were "nauseating". Moore
reached mainstream radio later and at a younger age than
Simpson, Aguilera and Spears had, and was initially not
as successful as they were, although So Real was
certified platinum in the U.S. in early 2000 and sold
nearly one million copies. Moore's debut teen-oriented
pop hit single "Candy", which Yahoo! Movies
described as "strangely provocative", peaked
just outside the top forty on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
and was certified gold. All Music Guide noted the single
was "mediocre" and "typical",
containing lyrics that described love "in terms of
sugar treats".
Moore released I Wanna Be with You, a re-worked version
of her debut album, in May 2000. The album, which was
mostly completed with synthesizers, bass, guitar, and
drums, comprised new songs alongside tracks and remixes
from So Real. Several reviewers criticized it on the
basis that it was a remix album and not a true
follow-up, with All Music Guide writing that its style
was "trashier, flashier, gaudier, and altogether
more disposable" than its predecessor. It peaked at
number twenty-one on the Billboard 200, was certified
gold in the U.S. and sold nearly 792,000 copies. The
title track "I Wanna Be with You" was the
album's only single and reached number twenty-four on
the Hot 100, Moore's highest peak to date. It was also
featured on the soundtrack of the film Center Stage
(2000).
Moore released the self-titled album Mandy Moore —
which included the songs "Saturate Me" (an
R&B ballad), "You Remind Me" and "In
My Pocket" — in June 2001. She promoted the album
with her first headlining concert, "Mandy Moore
Live@ShoutBack". The album contained uptempo tracks
and influences from Eastern music, and was described as
a "lush, layered production" by All Music
Guide.
It received mixed reviews from critics,
although Entertainment Weekly noted that Moore tried out
"new sounds" and "a breathy Natalie
Imbruglia vibe [on the album] ... as teen pop goes, it
could be a lot worse", while Rolling Stone magazine
positively described Moore as "more protorocker
than R&B wanna-be" and specified that she was
taking the "high road" compared to her first
two albums.The album debuted at number thirty-five on
the Billboard 200, was later certified gold in the U.S.
and sold 443,000 copies.
Lead single "In My Pocket",
which Entertainment Weekly said contained "pumping,
Indian influenced Euro disco", did not appear on
the Hot 100; Moore performed the song live several
times, including on the 2001 Fox network television
special Teenapalooza. The album's follow-up single,
"Crush", also failed to appear on the U.S.
chart, although MTV aired the music video frequently (it
was Moore's first number-one video on TRL). The early
2002 release of the final single, "Cry", tied
in with the film A Walk to Remember, Moore's debut as a
lead actress.
In 2006, Moore commented on her early albums with ill
feelings, noting that although she believed that her
first album was appropriate for her age, she felt it
"sucked" and that her first albums were
"just awful". Moore also said that she
"would give a refund to everyone who bought my
first two albums" if she could; during a radio
interview in April 2006, the show's co-host (who had
seen her comments) asked her for a refund on the first
album, a request that Moore fulfilled.
2003–present: Coverage, compilations, and new
contract: In October 2003, Moore released her fourth
album Coverage, which All Music Guide characterized as a
"leap to musical maturity" and which
Entertainment Weekly called an "effort to shed her
bubblegum-blond image". It consisted of covers of
1970s and 1980s songs that influenced Moore as a child;
Moore noted that she did not want to "top the
original artist[s]", but rather offer her "own
interpretation" of their music.
Entertainment Weekly described the
album's style as "overblown with strings, turntable
scratching, and arena-rock pomp", while E! Online
said that Moore's voice has grown "stronger"
and that she "sounds at home" performing the
re-mixes. Coverage peaked at number fourteen on the
Billboard 200 (her highest ranking to date), but
"Have a Little Faith in Me", its only single,
did not perform well on the charts, although it did
reach the ARC Weekly Top 40. Moore's cover of "I
Feel the Earth Move" appeared on Love Rocks, a
compilation CD of songs from gay rights supporters.
Due to low sales for Coverage, Sony's Epic Records
dropped Moore. The company released the hits compilation
album The Best of Mandy Moore, which reached number 148
on the Billboard 200, in November 2004 as a final
obligation to Moore's contract. Another compilation,
Candy, followed in 2005. During this time period, the
only music Moore had recorded was a song demo,
"Hey!", written by James Renald, and a cover
version of Lori McKenna's "Beautiful Man",
which was posted to her MySpace.
In early 2006, Moore stated that she missed her music
career and that singing is what she was the "most
passionate about". Moore had signed to Sire Records
after her contract with Epic Records ended, but left the
company in May 2006. She signed with a new EMI
Music-owned record company, The Firm, in July that year,
describing her new contract as "especially
exciting", and adding that she left Sire Records
because she did not want to "follow the
mainstream", but rather have "complete control
and freedom" over her work. Moore's new album, Wild
Hope, is scheduled for release on June 19, 2007, and
will include collaborations with artists Chantal
Kreviazuk, Rachael Yamagata and Lori McKenna.
Moore stayed alone in a house in
Woodstock in Upstate New York while recording the album
in late 2006. She performed new material from Wild Hope
at the Sundance Film Festival; her first single,
"Extraordinary", premiered on her MySpace
profile on January 29, 2007. Moore performed the song at
the Brick Awards on April 12, 2007 and is scheduled to
launch a tour in the summer of 2007. Moore filmed a
music video for "Extraordinary" in early March
2007; she appears as 120 versions of herself in the
video.
Television and film career, 2000–2005:
During the summer of 2000, Moore hosted a half-hour MTV
talk show, The Mandy Moore Show, which resumed in the
summer of 2001 under the title Mandy. Moore was also a
Neutrogena spokesperson, appearing in commercials and
print ads for the product. She has modelled for
Penshoppe in the Philippines, Coach handbags in Japan,
and was a spokesperson for the School and Youth Programs
of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
In 2001, Moore appeared in a small part as the mean and
popular cheerleader Lana Thomas opposite actresses Anne
Hathaway and Julie Andrews in the film The Princess
Diaries. During the film, Moore's character performs
"Stupid Cupid", a song from the film's
soundtrack. In 2002, Moore had her first starring role
in a major feature film in A Walk to Remember, which
co-starred Shane West. Based on the novel by Nicholas
Sparks, the film revolved around the developing romance
between a Protestant minister's daughter (Moore) and an
unruly teenager (West). The film was moderately
successful, bringing in $41 million in the United
States, and establishing Moore's status as a lead
actress.
Although the film was released to
negative reviews, Moore received several positive
notices for her performance, with critic Roger Ebert
calling her "quietly convincing". At that
summer's MTV Movie Awards, Moore won an award for
"Breakthrough Female Performance" for the
role. The same year, she voiced the Final Fantasy VII
character Aerith Gainsborough in the Square-Disney
crossover video game Kingdom Hearts, was featured in the
music video for Elton John's "Original Sin",
and was ranked number sixty-seven in Stuff magazine's
"102 Sexiest Women in the World".
In 2003, Moore starred in the romantic comedy film How
to Deal, which failed to draw in teenage crowds in the
U.S. and grossed a total of $14 million domestically.
Her next film was 2004's Chasing Liberty, a romantic
comedy that grossed approximately $12 million. Both
films received negative reviews; Ebert once again
singled Moore's performances out, noting in his review
of How to Deal that Moore has "an unaffected
natural charm" and "almost makes the movie
worth seeing", and adding in his Chasing Liberty
review that she has "undeniable screen presence and
inspires instant affection".
Other critics described her as an
"actress of limited range", though one review
of Chasing Liberty noted that she is the "most
painless of former pop princesses". Later in 2004,
Moore appeared in a lead role in the religion satire
Saved!, in which she played Hilary Faye, a proper and
popular girl at a Christian school. The film was
positively reviewed, though it did not receive a wide
release. Moore received praise for her performance, with
one critic calling her a "demented delight"
and another naming it her best performance to date.
In 2005, Moore lent her voice to the film Racing Stripes
and appeared on the television series Entourage; she was
also originally scheduled to star in the films Cursed,
Havoc, and The Upside of Anger, all of which were
eventually released in 2005 without Moore's involvement.
2006–present: In 2006, Moore guest-starred in
two episodes of Scrubs. The same year, she lent her
voice to The Simpsons, playing Tabitha Vixx in an
episode which aired in May. Moore also appeared in the
parody American Dreamz, which was released in April
2006. In the film, she played a deranged contestant on a
television series modelled after American Idol. Director
Paul Weitz stated that he had Moore in mind for the role
before she was cast, explaining that "there's
something inherently sweet about Mandy; it makes it all
the more interesting to see her in a villainess
role".
Moore has said that she enjoys playing
mean-spirited characters but fears being typecast as a
villain. American Dreamz opened at number nine at the
U.S. box office, eventually totaling barely $7 million,
and received mixed reviews; critic Owen Gleiberman of
Entertainment Weekly, however, wrote that Moore and
co-star Hugh Grant have a "wicked barbed
chemistry" in their roles, while Variety's Robert
Koehler said Moore's role was a "pitch-perfect
study of a woman for whom a reality show is
reality". Later that year, in what ComingSoon.net's
review described as a "surprisingly good
performance", Moore voiced Nita, the heroine of the
animated sequel Brother Bear 2, which was released
directly-to-DVD on August 29. She was also originally
cast to appear in that year's ensemble film Bobby, but
was replaced by Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
Moore, citing her conservative upbringing, has expressed
dissatisfaction with her appearance on a May 2006 cover
of Cosmopolitan; the magazine's headline is
"orgasms unlimited", which refers to an
article unrelated to her. Her most recent role was in
the romantic comedy Because I Said So, co-starring
Gabriel Macht and Diane Keaton. It was released on
February 2, 2007 and received mixed reviews. Moore's
upcoming films include Southland Tales, Dedication, and
License to Wed, in which she portrays a young bride who
has to complete a two-week prenup course before her
wedding. Co-starring John Krasinski as her fiance and
Robin Williams as a minister, the film was shot in
Mexico and Los Angeles and is scheduled for release on
July 4, 2007.
Personal life: Moore dated actor Wilmer
Valderrama for eighteen months between 2000 and 2002; in
2006, Valderrama appeared on The Howard Stern Show and
detailed that he and Moore were each other's "first
loves", although he did not claim that their
relationship was sexual, as was alleged by several media
sources who had misquoted his exact comments. Moore
later referred to Valderrama as a "good guy"
and a "gentleman", although she has stated
that his comments about their relationship were
"utterly tacky". Moore began dating tennis
star Andy Roddick in 2002; Roddick ended the
relationship in March 2004. Moore also dated
Philippines-born singer/actor Billy Crawford for a
"few months" when she was younger.
In 2004, Moore began dating Scrubs actor Zach Braff,
whom she met around November 2004. Referring to Braff,
Moore said that she likes "good Jewish boy(s)...
with a sense of humor". In 2006, the two were
incorrectly reported to be engaged; they ended their
relationship the same year. In early 2007, media reports
linked Moore to Adam Goldstein, known professionally as
"DJ AM", though the two were reported to have
ended their relationship in March 2007.
Moore's favorite musicians are Elton John, Switchfoot
and Bette Midler; Midler is also Moore's favorite
actress, and her film Beaches was Moore's favorite film
when she was a teenager. Moore also enjoys Annie Hall
and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and has
described herself as a "glass-half-full kind of
person". She lives in Hollywood Hills with her
brother, Kyle. Moore considers herself spiritual, and
has said that she does not think of herself as
distinctly Catholic nor Christian. In early 2007, Moore
stated that during the previous year, she had undergone
a "really crazy time" in her life, asking
herself "life-altering questions". Moore does
not know how to cook in the kitchen, but has set a goal
for herself to take cooking classes. |
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