Mandy Moore: An All-Round Entertainer

Mandy Moore showed a new side to herself this year when she released her third album titled Mandy Moore. A departure from her earlier pop sound, the new Mandy is groovy, a little naughty, and genuinely cool.

2001 was also the year Mandy starred in her first movie, The Princess Diaries. A monster teen movie, The Princess Diaries proved that, in addition to music and her part-time gig as an MTV VJ, Mandy could do movies too. She'll continue to work in Hollywood. Early 2002 will bring us A Walk to Remember, starring Mandy, alongside Shane West, as a small-town misfit searching for love and acceptance.

What's great about Mandy is that she genuine. She's simply a nice person, she's beautiful, talented, and is willing to take chances with her entertainment career. It's this combination that will keep Mandy Moore successfully employed for years in the biz.

TeenHollywood.com recently spoke with Mandy from her home in Orlando, Florida, the week before Christmas. Cheerful, excited about her movie career and her new musical direction, this is what she had to say.

You're starring in A Walk to Remember with Shane West. When and where did you film this movie?

Mandy: We filmed this movie over April and May of this past year in Bloomington, North Carolina.

Did you like that area?

Mandy: I loved it. I'd love to eventually go back and buy a house there. I completely fell in love with that area of the country. Getting to travel around to so many places I find myself going, "Wow, wouldn't it be nice to live here one day?" But Bloomington isn't that far away from Orlando where I live and it's a far enough vacation destination from New York and LA. I loved it.

Let's talk about your role in the movie. What attracted you to your character?

Mandy: I play a character named Jamie Sullivan and what attracted me to her initially was that I'd read the book by Nicolas Sparks. I loved the book so much and wanted anything to do with this movie. I just wanted to be a part of it in some way.

So when I discovered they were doing a movie I was such a pit bull and fought for it so bad. For some reason I felt there was a little of me in Jamie and I wanted to bring that out. Someone once told me that every character that you choose to do in a film, you take a piece of that character away with you forever. So what better character to take away with me than Jamie who is so kind-hearted, and someone that I aspire to be like. She is so comfortable in her own skin even though she doesn't wear the coolest clothes and people make fun of her. But it doesn't bother her and that's something that I'm still struggling with. Not letting what critics say or what people who aren't fans of my music or fans of who I am (bother me). I haven't been able to be like Jamie in that sense, so it's another reason that I wanted to take the role.

Do you always go after characters that are unlike you?

Mandy: Yeah, that's the fun of acting. I would never want to do a movie where I'm some singer or pop star. That's too close to life. There's no fun in that because that's my life so I like to choose a character who has some differences and some depth.

Are you happy with your performance?

Mandy: I went to my first screening of the film and I couldn't watch it. Every single scene I'm like, "Oh, I thought the take that I took two takes after that was better," and "I can remember what we ate for lunch on that day" or the phone conversation I had right before I shot that scene. I just remembered the most stupid and random facts and I couldn't watch it.

I guess I'm happy with my performance but that's just because other people around me are like, "That was great," but I can't judge something like that myself. I can't judge a performance of me singing either. It's horrible. Watching myself is like nails running down a chalkboard. It's the worst torture for me.

What did you enjoy most about making The Princess Diaries?

Mandy: I'm really good friends with Heather Matarazzo now, she's in the film and is one of my best friends. I think just having the opportunity to take a month off and work on this film was just so wonderful. I was in LA and San Francisco and I felt like I was taking a vacation. I got the time to make some friends and hang out with them outside of shooting the movie. That's something I don't often get to do with people my age. I'm usually on the road by myself with my parents, my band, and my tour manager. The farthest people from me are people my own age.

Does being so well known as a teen entertainer restrict you from getting heavier or more dramatic roles in films?

Mandy: Absolutely. Casting directors are holding auditions for certain movies and they can really limit you as to how far you can go and in what direction. It's so weird that they even allowed me to audition for this film because it's so far away from what a "pop star" would want to do. I don't wear any make-up, I wear clothes that are four-sizes too big for me. I have mousy-brown hair and it's pulled back in a ponytail, it's just really not a movie about being cute. But that's all the more reason that made me want to do this film.

It's not that I'm well-known or a superstar, because I'm not, but I'm a pop singer. So many people who don't know where I've gone with my last record, because it's such a predictable genre of music, they think they know everything there is to know about it, how we dress and how we answer questions, how we can't chew bubble-gum and walk in a straight line at the same time. There's so many stereotypes about pop music that it makes me just want to break out of it and do something different. But all you can do is try and hope people can see who you really are, to get the opportunity to meet with them or at least to read the script.

You co-hosted Regis & Kelly to be broadcast on Christmas day. What was that like?

Mandy: It was fun. We got to film it here in Orlando about two weeks ago, so I got to come home and hang out at Disney for a little bit. But I didn't get to meet them because I had to pre-shoot all my stuff. I was very upset. I've done Regis and Kelly before but every time I've done it, well, Kathy Lee was gone twice and Joy Philbin was filling in and then Kelly was gone the last time with her baby, so Joy was filling in again. I was like, finally I get to meet the two hosts of the show...but they both weren't there. But it was a great experience and I love doing the whole hosting gig.

What attracts you to TV broadcasting?

Mandy: Initially what attracted me to the MTV stuff was to show people that I had a personality. You can try to put personality in your music, but come on it's music, and it's not like you're speaking directly to someone. I was just lucky to stumble onto this MTV opportunity and essentially become part of the MTV family. It's helped me become more comfortable with myself and with the camera. I love talking to people and I think that's where it started.

I went in the first time to do TRL and I was so psyched to be in the MTV studio. They said, "We'd like you to meet with some of the head-honchos" and I went upstairs and sat at this big round table and they were talking about me being part of the family and having my own show eventually, and I was 15 years old! I was so excited. Then I went downstairs and they had me read off the teleprompter while standing in the Times Square studio and I walked out with a three-year contract with MTV. I was on tour with the Backstreet Boys at the time and had just come to MTV to do TRL, so I was overjoyed. It's a true blessing because I've made so many friends there and I have such a wonderful time.

What is MTV's Diary of Mandy Moore about?

Mandy: It's a show that follows the actor, actress, or athlete around for a couple of days. It's not really 'a day in the life of...' thing, it's behind the scenes with a little camera and you forget the camera is even there, and that's the whole point of the show. My show will be talking about the movie and doing a couple TV shows and MTV stuff, and me back in LA hanging out with my friends, my boyfriend, and my parents. You get to see me warming up and driving in my car. So if you're fascinated by the music industry it's a fun show to watch. I don't know how mine's going to be because my life isn't that interesting, but I love watching diaries of other people.

Let's get into your music. Your last album was quite different for you and something I think you really wanted to do...

Mandy: It was. It's something I'm proud of.

Did you want to create some space between you and other young female pop acts?

Mandy: It wasn't necessarily distancing myself from anybody else. Comparisons are inevitable and they don't bother me at all, but what I wanted to do was make music that I was actually proud of. I listen back to the other two records and I cringe at a lot of the songs. I wanted to make a record that can stand the test of time and ten years from now I can look back and go, "You know what? The production is a little outdated but that is still a really strong melody and I'm really glad that I recorded that song."

I wanted to do something that wasn't the stereotypical pop sound. I was really happy that people who got the album and the critics who reviewed the album noticed that. I wanted to break out of the mold that people had for me. I feel like a true musician and that's what it's all about.

When will you start working on your new album?

Mandy: Probably at the end of January, start of February. I'd love to be doing a film around that time too.

Do you have a film in mind?

Mandy: No, I'm still reading scripts. There aren't too many movies in production right now, and the good movies are few and far between. I'm going to try and be as picky as I can right now.

Mandy, do you worry about overexposure in the media?

Mandy: No. I guess there's a point where you have to worry about overexposure but I'm not that type of celebrity. I'm not the 'N Sync's and Britney Spears' of the world.

How does being a famous person affect you?

Mandy: It doesn't affect my life honestly. It doesn't affect the way the people in my life treat me, my parents, my friends, and my boyfriend. Everybody treats me like I'm Mandy because that's who I am. It's nice to be able to go out of the house and go to the mall. There might be a few people there who recognize me, and it's nice to get recognized for your work, but I've never gotten to the point where I'm mobbed.

As my last question, what do you enjoy most about the Christmas holidays?

Mandy: I love driving in after a night with my friends and seeing all the Christmas lights, and the fact that regardless of what's going on in the world right now everybody seems to be in such a cheerful mood. Not to sound cheesy, but everybody seems to have the Christmas spirit on their minds and that's nice.

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