Mandy Moore Biography

Mandy Moore
Biography

Birth Name
Amanda Leigh Moore
Date of birth (location)
10 April 1984
Nashua, New Hampshire, USA

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A naturally pretty, bubbly blonde singer and actress hailing from teen pop mecca Orlando, Florida, Mandy Moore went from local musical theater and fame as the "National Anthem Girl" for her performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Orlando sports events to a platinum debut album at age fifteen. Spotted by producers who heard her take on the patriotic hymn and suggested she cut a demo, Moore was soon a fourteen-year-old sitting pretty with a record deal. Touring with the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC in 1999 exposed the young singer to a large audience, and demand for her debut single "Candy" was so strong that her album release date was actually pushed up, a rare occurrence in the business.

      With a video that was strangely provocative although the teenaged Moore has always dressed conservatively in comparison to her teen pop genremates Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, "Candy" launched her MTV career as well. Reaching platinum sales by 2000, Moore was now a fixture on MTV, guest hosting the popular daily series "TRL" and starring in specials including "Mandy's Spring Break Makeover". Noting the performer's charm, charisma and excellent screen presence, the network offered Moore her own series, the summer 2000-premiered talk show "The Mandy Moore Show", which resumed in the summer of 2001 retitled "Mandy".

      A star whose work has crossed media lines from the beginning, Moore began working as a Neutrogena spokesperson soon after "Candy" was released, and in 2000, the home video "Magic Al and the Mind Factory" surfaced, a children's project she had filmed in 1998. 2001 saw the actress make her big screen debuts, first with a small voice role in "Dr. Dolittle 2" and next as a pivotal supporting player in the G-rated Garry Marshall comedy "The Princess Diaries". As the popular tormentor of unlikely princess Mia (Anne Hathaway), Moore set aside her sunshiny image to play your typical catty schoolgirl bully. Excited for the opportunity to work with legends Marshall and star Julie Andrews, Moore enjoyed an overwhelmingly positive reaction to her entry into film, including a rather warm critics' reception. As "The Princess Diaries" was set to open in 2001, Moore had just finished filming "A Walk to Remember" (2002), a period romance set in small town America in the 1950s (for which she received the MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Performance) and had released a self-titled album that showed a more mature, musically experimental side to the singer, who had a hit with the edgy beat-driven leadoff single "In My Pocket".

   With the recent release of the film, "How To Deal", and two others, "Saved" (a Michael Stipe-produced black comedy, in which she plays "the perfect Christian girl who uses her personal relationship with Jesus to take advantage of everyone"), and "Chasing Liberty" set for release in 2004, Mandy Moore is also exploring her musical future with heartfelt interpretations of some of the greatest songs of the past with her new album, "Coverage".

She has matured from a young blonde pop singer to a sophisticated brunette with a thirst for knowledge and experience, particularly when it comes to her work. Mandy Moore's "Coverage" includes twelve classic pop/rock anthems and ballads from the 1970s and 80s. Adding a soulfulness to Todd Rundgren's "Can We Still Be Friends," putting a Nashville twang to Carly Simon's "Anticipation," and rocking out on Joan Armatrading's rollicking "Drop The Pilot," Moore reinvents the music and herself.