Mandy Moore

Amanda Leigh Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter and actress.

She rose to fame with her debut single, "Candy", which peaked at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Moore was born on April 10, 1984, in Nashua, New Hampshire, to Stacy (née Friedman), a former news reporter who once worked for the Orlando Sentinel, and Donald Moore, a pilot for American Airlines.

From 1998 to 1999, Moore went to the Bishop Moore Catholic High School in Orlando.

Moore is the step-sister of actress Carly Craig.

Moore became interested in singing and acting at a young age, and called her British maternal grandmother, Eileen Friedman, a professional ballerina in London, one of her inspirations.

Moore said "My parents thought it was just a phase I'd grow out of. But I stuck to it and begged them for acting lessons, for voice lessons."

Moore began acting in lead roles in a number of local productions and performing the national anthem at a number of events in Orlando.

She was only twelve years old when she went to the Stagedoor Manor performing arts camp, where other celebrities including actress Natalie Portman had attended.

Production director Konnie Kittrell said about Moore "She was a quiet, sweet girl", and said that she earned a number of solos, but "She wasn't a spotlight seeker."

When Moore was thirteen she began working on music by herself.

One day while working in an Orlando studio, she was overheard by Victor Cade, a FedEx delivery man who had a friend in A&R at Epic Records.

Cade later sent this friend a copy of Moore's unfinished demo, and Moore signed on with the label.

After signing with Epic Records, Moore began working on her debut album.

While recording the album, Moore had to leave Bishop Moore Catholic High School when she was only in the ninth-grade, but continued receiving her education from tutors.

Her debut studio album, So Real (1999), received a platinum certification from the RIAA.

In the summer of 1999, Moore began touring with the boy band NSYNC.

Later that year, Moore also toured with the boy band Backstreet Boys.

Moore's debut single, "Candy", was released on August 17, 1999, in the U.S. The single was a commercial success in a number of countries, but was immediately compared to the singles of fellow teen pop singers Jessica Simpson, Christina Aguilera, and Britney Spears.

It debuted at number 88 on the Billboard Hot 100, before peaking at number 41 on the chart.

The single later received a Gold certification from the RIAA, for sales exceeding 500,000 copies in the U.S. The single was the most successful in Australia, where it peaked at number 2 on the ARIA Charts and received a Platinum certification.

Moore began to host and VJ at MTV, contributing to numerous shows including Total Request Live, Say What? Karaoke, and her own talk show which was originally called The Mandy Moore Show before being retitled as Mandy.

Moore's debut studio album, So Real, was released on December 7, 1999, by 550 Music through Epic Records.

The album received a limited release in only a few countries.

It received generally mixed reviews from critics when it was released, and Moore continued to be compared to other teen pop singers.

Allmusic said about the album, "Fifteen-year-old Mandy Moore's debut album sounded like it was inspired almost entirely by listening to recent hit albums by 'N Sync, the Backstreet Boys, and Britney Spears."

Entertainment Weekly had a similar opinion about the album, and gave it a C− in their review.

The title single from her reissue of So Real, I Wanna Be With You (2000), became Moore's first top 30 song in the US, peaking at #24 on the Hot 100.

Moore subsequently released the studio albums Mandy Moore (2001), Coverage (2003), Wild Hope (2007), Amanda Leigh (2009), Silver Landings (2020), and In Real Life (2022).

She has sold 10 million albums worldwide.

Moore made her feature film debut in 2001 with a minor voice role in Dr. Dolittle 2, before playing a supporting role in the comedy The Princess Diaries.

She received recognition for her starring role in the romantic drama A Walk to Remember (2002).

Her subsequent film credits include How to Deal (2003), Chasing Liberty (2004), Saved! (2004), Racing Stripes (2005), Because I Said So (2007), License to Wed (2007), Love, Wedding, Marriage (2011), 47 Meters Down (2017), The Darkest Minds (2018), and Midway (2019).

Moore was raised Catholic, but had stopped practicing religion by 2004 and has since developed a "hodgepodge of things" that she believes.

Moore is of Russian Jewish, English, Scottish, and Irish descent.

She has an older brother, Scott, and a younger brother, Kyle.

When Moore was two months old, she and her family moved to Longwood, Florida, outside of Orlando, because of her father's job.

She also voiced Rapunzel in the Disney animated musical fantasy film Tangled (2010).

From 2016 to 2022, she starred as Rebecca Pearson in the NBC family drama series This Is Us, receiving nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.

In 2019, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.