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Biography - Born 04/10/1984
A naturally pretty, bubbly 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 genre-mates 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 that paired her quiet good girl character opposite troubled popular boy Shane West in a syrupy but effective teen "Love Story"-type tale, 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".
After her debut starring role drew respectable box office numbers, Moore was next cast as the lead in "How to Deal" (2003), playing a teen whose cynical views on romancespurred by her splintered family's misadventures in loveis turned on its head when she falls in love for the first time. That film was followed by another musical release, 2003's Coverage in which Moore attempted to bring songs by Elton John, Todd Rundgren, Cat Stevens and other classic rock and pop artists to her generation of fans. She next played the rebellious, overprotected first daughter of the United States President who, on a road trip to escape constant surveillance, unknowingly falls for the undercover Secret Service agent assigned to shield her in "Chasing Liberty" (2004).
After that conventionally mild crowd-pleaser, Moore co-starred in the sly indie comedy "Saved!" and demonstrated a surprisingly convincing edgy side playing Hilary Faye, an overzealous and self-righteous Christian school student who demonstrates a surprising degree of intolerance when her pregnant best friend refuses to be "saved" and questions their moral stances. The actress' dramatic depths and improvisational abilities added layers of complexity to her character, which in another's hands would've been entirely unsympathetic. For Racing Stripes (2005), a family-friendly combination live-action and animated feature, Moore provided the voice of Sandy, a young horse who helps Stripes the zebra run his first race.
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