Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer–songwriter, actress and fashion designer. She grew up in Florida. Moore became famous as a teenager in the late 1990s, after the release of her teen-oriented pop albums So Real, I Wanna Be with You, and Mandy Moore. Moore subsequently branched out into a film career, starring in 2002's A Walk to Remember and later appearing in the lead roles of other movies, such as Chasing Liberty, also aimed at teenage audiences. Two of Moore's later films, American Dreamz and Saved!, were satires. Her private life, including her relationships with tennis player Andy Roddick and with actors Wilmer Valderrama and Zach Braff as well as her marriage with singer Ryan Adams became the subject of much discussion in the media. Her most recent album, Amanda Leigh, was released on May 26, 2009. Moore has sold more than 10 million records worldwide.Early life:
Moore was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, the daughter of Stacy, a former news reporter whom the Orlando Sentinel had once employed, and Donald "Don" Moore, a pilot for American Airlines. Moore's father is of Irish and Cherokee descent, and her mother is of English and Jewish ancestry. Moore, who has two brothers, Scott Moore and Kyle Moore, grew up in Longwood, Florida, outside of Orlando, where the family moved shortly after her birth because of her father's job as an airline pilot. She was raised in the Catholic religion, even though she is no longer a practicing Catholic, 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 the artists and repertoire department at Epic Records after his friend, a FedEx employee, overheard her as she sang at a recording studio.
Personal life:
Moore dated Philippines-born singer/actor Billy Crawford for a "few months" when she was younger. 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 misquoted his remarks. 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. In November 2004, Moore began dating Scrubs actor Zach Braff. 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 and broke up later in 2006. 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. Also in 2007, she briefly dated actor/singer Greg Laswell. Moore got engaged to singer-songwriter and New York resident Ryan Adams, formerly of the alt-country band Whiskeytown; they announced their engagement on February 11, 2009 and married on March 10, 2009, in Savannah, Georgia.Moore's favorite musicians include Elton John, Switchfoot, Weezer, 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 says she does not know how to cook, but has set a goal for herself to take cooking classes. Moore has also become a fan of mixed martial arts, often attending UFC events and being noted as one of the mainstream celebrities on hand. When shown at UFC 83, from Montreal, Quebec, color commentator Joe Rogan jokingly referred to her as a "UFC groupie". She was next seen at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 24, 2008 for UFC 84, with play-by-play announcer Mike Goldberg observing that "She's becoming a UFC regular." She was seen at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on July 6, 2008 for UFC 86, cheering for light heavyweight contender Forrest Griffin and most recently at UFC: Silva vs. Irvin on July 19, 2008.As to her religious beliefs, Moore considers herself spiritual, and has said that she does not think of herself as either Catholic or 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".
Acting career
2000–2002:
During the summer of 2000, Moore hosted a half-hour MTV talk show, The Mandy Moore Show, which was renamed Mandy a year later. 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. Her first acting role was in the straight-to-video children's film Magic Al and the Mind Factory in which she plays the character of Brittany Foster.
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. She also had a voiceover role in Dr. Dolittle 2 as the Girl Bear Cub. 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 Jamie Sullivan (Moore) and an unruly teenager Landon Carter (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 received mainly 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".
2003–2005:
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; however, 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 was 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. She sang a cover version of The Beach Boys 1966 hit "God Only Knows," with Michael Stipe, that bookended the movie.
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.
2006–2007:
In 2006, Moore guest-starred in two episodes of Scrubs: "My Half-Acre" and "Her Story II". The same year, she lent her voice to The Simpsons, playing Tabitha Vixx in the episode Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play 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 modeled 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 Disney 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. In her movie following this, Because I Said So, co-starring Gabriel Macht, Lauren Graham and Diane Keaton, Moore's character describes in detail the feeling of an orgasm to her mother, Keaton's character. It was released on February 2, 2007 and received mixed reviews. In License to Wed, Moore portrays a young bride-to-be who has to complete a three-week prenup course before her wedding. Co-starring John Krasinski as her fiance and Robin Williams as a priest, the film was released on July 3, 2007 to mostly negative reviews. However, according to Variety, Moore's own acting was "appealing."
Moore's movies have grossed a total of $220,701,061 domestically.
In 2007, Moore returned to the small screen in an episode of How I Met Your Mother entitled "Wait for It".
Since 2009:
She has recently begun filming on a new movie titled, "Swinging with the Finkels". She is also set to voice Princess Rapunzel, the tenth Disney Princess, in the upcoming animated Disney film Rapunzel.
