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Mandy MooreCandyCrushCryHave A Little Faith In MeIn My PocketWalk Me Home
Moore was born in Nashua, New Hampshire. Her mother, Stacy (née Friedman), is a former news reporter who once worked for the Orlando Sentinel, and her father, Donald "Don" Moore, is a pilot for American Airlines.[6][7][8] Moore's father is of Irish and Cherokee descent, and her mother is of half English and half Jewish ancestry.[9][10] Moore, who has an older brother Scott and a younger brother Kyle, 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.[11] She was raised Catholic (though she is no longer practicing),[12] and attended Bishop Moore High School,[13] in Orlando, as well as Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs. Moore's interest in singing grew after seeing
the musical Oklahoma![citation needed] She was also encouraged
to perform by her English-born maternal grandmother, who was her
inspiration.[10] Some of Moore's first public exposure occurred
when she sang the national anthem at several Florida sporting events.[citation
needed] 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.[14] Moore toured with N'SYNC throughout 1999.[11] Her debut album, So Real, was released in December 1999 and reached No.31 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album charts.[15] Unfortunately for her image, at the time of the album's release, reviewers considered Moore the latest in a series of heavily-marketed female teen singers described as "pop princesses," akin to Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, and Christina Aguilera.[16] Entertainment Weekly Magazine's review of So Real, written by Elizabeth Vincentelli, accused Moore's songs of revolving around "not-yet-experienced love," of having been performed with "suffocating professionalism," and called the album's ballads "nauseating."[17] Moore reached mainstream radio later, and at a
younger age, than Simpson, Aguilera and Spears had, and she 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.[18] Moore's debut teen-oriented pop hit single "Candy," which Yahoo! Movies described as "strangely provocative,"[7] peaked just outside the top 40 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100[19] charts,
and was certified gold.[15] The single was more successful in Europe,
especially in the UK, where it reached number 6.[citation needed]
Allmusic called the single "mediocre" and "typical," containing lyrics that described love "in terms of sugar treats."[20] Moore released I Wanna Be with You in May 2000.[21]
The album, which was mostly completed with synthesizers, bass,
guitar, and drums[22] 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,[23][24] with
Allmusic accusing its style of being "trashier, flashier, gaudier, and altogether more disposable" than that of So Real.[25] It peaked at No.21 on the Billboard 200, was certified
gold in the U.S., selling nearly 1,000,000 copies.[18] The title
track, "I Wanna Be with You," was the album's only single and reached No.24 on the Hot 100,[19] Moore's highest
peak to date.[citation needed] It was also featured on the soundtrack
of the film Center Stage in 2000.[26] In June 2001, Moore released her second full-length album, her third overall, the self-titled album Mandy Moore. She promoted the album with her first headlining concert, "Mandy Moore Live@ShoutBack."[citation needed] The album contained uptempo tracks and influences from Eastern music,[27] and Allmusic described it as a "lush, layered production."[28] It received mixed reviews from other critics.[29] The album debuted at No.35 on the Billboard 200, and was later certified gold in the U.S., selling 443,000 copies.[18] The lead single was "In My Pocket," which Entertainment Weekly said contained "pumping, Indian influenced Euro disco."[30] The album's follow-up single was titled "Crush." 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.[citation needed] 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 at the time when she released
it,[10][31] she felt it "sucked"[32] and that her first albums were "just awful."[16] Moore also said that she "would give a refund to everyone who bought my first two albums" if she could;[33] 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.[32] In October 2003, Moore released her fourth album Coverage,[34] which Allmusic characterized as a "leap to musical maturity"[35] and which Entertainment Weekly called an "effort to shed her bubblegum-blond image".[36] The album peaked at No.14 on the Billboard 200;[15] but "Have a Little Faith in Me" and "Senses Working Overtime", its only two singles, did not perform well on the charts.[15] Moore's cover of "I Feel the Earth Move" appeared on Love Rocks, a compilation CD of songs from gay rights supporters.[37] Due to creative differences between Moore and
her label, a split was announced.[citation needed] The company
released the hits compilation album The Best of Mandy Moore, which
reached No.148 on the Billboard 200[38] in November 2004 as a final
obligation to Moore's contract.[39] 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".[citation needed] Moore also voiced the character "Nita" in the 2006 film, Brother Bear 2. In early 2006, Moore stated that she missed her music career and that singing is what she was the "most passionate about."[16] Moore had signed to Sire Records after her contract with Epic Records ended, but she left the company in May 2006.[citation needed] She signed with a new EMI Music-owned record company, The Firm, in July that year, describing her new contract as "especially exciting,"[40] 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.[41] Moore's new album, Wild Hope, was released on June 19, 2007,[42] and includes collaborations with artists Chantal Kreviazuk, Rachael Yamagata, Lori McKenna and The Weepies.[43] Moore stayed alone in a house in Woodstock in Upstate New York while recording the album in late 2006.[44] She performed new material from Wild Hope at the Sundance Film Festival;[citation needed] her first single, "Extraordinary," premiered on her MySpace profile on January 29, 2007.[citation needed] Moore performed the song at the Brick Awards on April 12, 2007[45] and launched a tour in the summer of 2007.[46] The album was released in the USA in June 2007 to positive reviews.[citation needed] It fared moderately well on the charts, debuting at number thirty on the Billboard 200 (Moore's third highest charting album in the U.S.), and at number 84 in Canada.[citation needed] In August 2007, Moore toured with Paula Cole, and Rachael Yamagata, playing at mid-size venues in the United States and Canada.[citation needed] Wild Hope was placed at number 10 on Entertainment Weekly's "The Must List" and also named Reader's Choice for that August 10 issue, two months after its release.[citation needed] Moore surprised many with a free concert in Boston on July 18, 2007.[47] On February 23, 2008, Moore released Wild Hope in Australia, and subsequently toured with Ben Lee and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in Western Australia, supporting Kelly Clarkson on her tour.[citation needed] In October 2008, Moore posted on her website blog live videos of three new songs she's been working on, along with singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist Mike Viola. It was at first expected to a be a duo album between the two, but then in January 2009, it was revealed it would be a solo album with a collaboration with him, slated for release in April 2009.[48] On June 2009, Moore performed 5 tracks of her new Amanda Leigh album, including “Nothing Everything” and “Love To Love Me Back,” at the Walmart Soundcheck show.[49] In May 2009, she released her latest album, Amanda Leigh, to generally positive reviews. Rolling Stone said about the album: "the title is taken from the singer's real first and middle names, the acoustic instrumentation emits a cozy campfire glow, and the album was recorded in a modest basement home studio. Message: This is real music, not computerized starlet pop."[citation needed] Time Magazine said that the album was "impeccably recorded."[citation needed] An article on the album by Paper Magazine said, "Mandy (in the album)... shows real thoughtful and emotional depth." Paper concluded that "Moore is a far better musician than she's often given credit for."[50][51][52] Moore has a total of singles sales in Australia
of more than 241,000 copies, and was ranked at # 281 on the 1000
artists chart of ARIA Music Decade Charts (1980–2010).[53] In 2010, Mandy voiced Rapunzel in Disney animation
film Tangled and recorded several songs for the soundtrack,[54]
including the Oscar-nominated "I See the Light",[55] which she performed live during the Oscar presentation in February 2011.
She also stated that she is working on a new album to be released
in the end of 2011 or early 2012.[56] During the summer of 2000, Moore hosted a half-hour MTV talk show, The Mandy Moore Show, which was renamed Mandy a year later.[57] Moore was also a Neutrogena spokesperson, appearing in commercials and print ads for the product.[7] She has modelled for Penshoppe in the Philippines,[citation needed] Coach handbags in Japan,[58] and was a spokesperson for the School and Youth Programs of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.[59] 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.[citation needed] 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,[60] and establishing Moore's status as a lead
actress. Although the film received mainly negative reviews,[61]
Moore received several positive notices for her performance, with
critic Roger Ebert calling her "quietly convincing".[62] At that summer's MTV Movie Awards, Moore won an award for "Breakthrough Female Performance" for the role.[63] 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".[64] 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.[60] Her next film was 2004's Chasing Liberty, a romantic comedy that grossed approximately $12 million.[60] Both films received negative reviews;[65] 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,"[66] and adding in his Chasing Liberty review that she has "undeniable screen presence and inspires instant affection."[67] Other critics described her as an "actress of limited range,"[68] though one review of Chasing Liberty noted that she was the "most painless of former pop princesses."[69] 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,[70] though it did not receive a wide release. Moore received praise for her performance,[71] with one critic calling her a "demented delight"[72] and another naming it her best performance to date.[73] 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 as Sandy the white horse 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.[13] 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".[74] Moore also appeared in the film 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".[75] Moore has said that she enjoys playing mean-spirited characters but fears being typecast as a villain.[76] American Dreamz opened at number nine at the U.S. box office,[77] eventually totaling barely $7 million,[78] and received mixed reviews;[79] critic Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly, however, wrote that Moore and co-star Hugh Grant have a "wicked barbed chemistry" in their roles,[80] while Variety's Robert Koehler said Moore's role was a "pitch-perfect study of a woman for whom a reality show is reality".[81] 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.[82] She was also originally cast to appear in that year's ensemble film Bobby, but was replaced by Mary Elizabeth Winstead.[83] 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.[84] 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. It was released on February 2, 2007
and received mixed reviews.[85] 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. Nevertheless, Variety described Moore's
performance as "appealing."[86][87][88] In 2007, Moore returned to the small screen in an episode of How
I Met Your Mother entitled "Wait for It". After a break of almost two years from big screen roles, Moore filmed the romantic comedy Swinging with the Finkels in the United Kingdom in 2009 for a 2011 release.[89] Moore also starred with actor Kellan Lutz in the 2010 film, Love, Wedding, Marriage.[90][91] She was a guest star on the sixth season finale of Grey's Anatomy on May 20, 2010, her first television role since 2007.[92] She returned in a guest role for an episode of the show's seventh season.[citation needed] Also that year, Moore voiced Princess Rapunzel in the CGI animated film Tangled. Moore, alongside Zachary Levi, performed the film's theme song, "I See the Light" at the 83rd Academy Awards where it was nominated for Best Original Song.[93] In October 2011, it was announced that she is set to star in an ABC comedy titled Us and Them.[94] Along with her voice role in the upcoming 2012
Tron: Uprising animated series, she is also set to be the title
character voice in the Disney Junior series Oki’s Oasis.[95] Moore branched into the fashion world in 2005
with her own fashion line named Mblem., a brand of contemporary
knitwear and cashmere. One of her aims was to provide clothing
for taller women (Moore herself is 5'10).[96] In February 2009,
Moore announced that the line would be shutting down, but that
she hoped to reenter the fashion world again under different circumstances
in the future.[3] According to a press release from her own official website, Moore was involved in teaming up with nonprofit organization PSI, and its subsidiary, Five and Alive, in fighting malaria in Africa.[97] According to USA Today, Moore was also involved
in serving as the Honorary Chairperson of the Leukemia and Lymphoma
Society's division on awareness for youth. She served as a spokesperson
by helping young people be aware of the seriousness of leukemia
and lymphoma.[98] She also serves as the spokesperson for Cervical
Cancer Awareness Month, held every January.[99] In addition, to
increase cervical cancer awareness, Moore teamed up with Dr. Yvonne
Collins, The Gynecologic Cancer Foundation (GCF), and GlaxoSmithKline
(GSK).[100] Her relationships with Adam Goldstein aka DJ AM, singer Billy Crawford, tennis player Andy Roddick,[101] and actors Wilmer Valderrama[102] and Zach Braff,[103] as well as her marriage to singer Ryan Adams, have become the subject of media coverage. Moore and Adams were married on March 10, 2009, in Savannah.[104][105] Moore has become a fan of mixed martial arts, often attending UFC events.[106] As to her religious beliefs, Moore considers herself
spiritual, and has said that she does not think of herself as Christian.[12] So Real (1999) The Best of Mandy Moore (2004) Mandy Moore – The Real Story (2001) [edit] Filmography
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