Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American pop singer and actor, best known for looking pretty and turning out to be quite a bit more talented than you'd expect from someone so ornamental.
Moore released her first album, So Real, in 1999. She was the last of the "pop princesses" of the late-nineties to debut, following in the footsteps of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson. While modestly successful through the early 2000s, she was frequently compared to said fellow pop artists and her album sales and single performance dwarfed theirs.note It wasn't until her fourth album, released in 2003, that she came into her own as a musician.
Moore also transitioned over to acting during this period, headlining The Film of the Book A Walk to Remember opposite Shane West. She had a brief turn voicing Aerith Gainesborough in Kingdom Hearts I (before being replaced by some combination of Andrea Bowen and Mena Suvari). Her next major film role was the Darker and Edgier Saved!, a Black Comedy satire of Christian High School life. She has had TV roles on The Simpsons, Grey's Anatomy and Scrubs, opposite then-boyfriend Zach Braff. She voiced and sang for the Disney Princess Rapunzel in Tangled. She went on to play the titular role in Sheriff Callie's Wild West, an animated Western for Disney Junior, and reprised her role as Rapunzel in Sofia the First and Ralph Breaks the Internet. From 2016 to 2022, she starred in the NBC drama This Is Us as Rebecca Pearson, a mother to three children.
Moore, who was married to country singer Ryan Adams, returned to music in 2020 with her first album in 11 years, Silver Landings, and has even ventured into fashion. She is currently married to musician Taylor Goldsmith and they have three children.
Selected Filmography:
- The Princess Diaries (2001) as Lana Thomas
- A Walk to Remember (2002) as Jamie Sullivan
- Kingdom Hearts I (2002) as Aerith Gainsborough
- All I Want (2003) as Lisa
- Clone High (2003; guest star) as Herself
- How To Deal (2003) as Halley Martin
- Chasing Liberty (2003) as Anna Foster
- Saved! (2004) as Hilary Faye Stockard
- Racing Stripes (2005) as Sandy (voice)
- Romance & Cigarettes (2005) as Baby Murder
- American Dreamz (2005) as Sally Kendoo
- Entourage (2005; recurring) as Herself
- Scrubs (2006; guest star) as Julie Quinn
- The Simpsons (2006; "Marge and Homer Turn A Couple Play") as Tabitha Vixx (voice)
- Brother Bear 2 (2006) as Nita (voice)
- How I Met Your Mother (2007; "Wait for It") as Amy
- Because I Said So (2007) as Milly Wilder
- License To Wed (2007) as Sadie Jones
- Tangled (2010) as Rapunzel
- Tangled Ever After (2012 short film)
- Disney Infinity (2013-2015 video game)
- Sofia the First (2014; "The Curse of Princess Ivy")
- Tangled: The Series (2017 - 2020)
- Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)
- LEGO Disney Princess: The Castle Quest (2023 special)
- Disney Dreamlight Valley (2023 video game)
- Once Upon a Studio (2023 short film)
- LEGO Disney Princess: Villains Unite (2025 special)
- Grey's Anatomy (2010; recurring) as Mary Portman
- Love Wedding Marriage (2011) as Ava Gold
- TRON: Uprising (2012) as Mara (voice)
- Max Landis' The Death And Return Of Superman (2012) as Lois Lane
- Sheriff Callie's Wild West (2013-2017) as Sheriff Callie (voice)
- This Is Us (2016 - 2022) as Rebecca Pearson
- 47 Meters Down (2016) as Lisa
- The Darkest Minds (2018) as Dr. Catherine "Cate" Connor
- Midway (2019) as Anne Best
- Dr. Death (2023) as Benita Alexander
- Number One Happy Family USA (2025) as Mrs. Malcom (voice)
Discography:
- So Real (1999)
- I Wanna Be with You (2000)
- Mandy Moore (2001)
- Coverage (2003)
- Wild Hope (2007)
- Amanda Leigh (2009)
- Silver Landings (2020)
- In Real Life (2022)
Tropes:
- Alliterative Name: Works in two ways, as a fan of hers on Twitter pointed out that when she was married to Ryan Adams, she could be addressed as "Mandy Moore" or "Amanda Adams".
- Break-Up Song: Majority of the Wild Hope album.
- The Cameo: From one of her brothers in her "Candy" music video.
- The Cast Show Off: In a few of her movies. The Princess Diaries featured her character performing "Stupid Cupid" at a beach party for no real reason. Not that we're complaining.
- Cover Album: Coverage contains old classics she was inspired by when she was young.
- Covered in Gunge: She got slimed at the 2007 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.
- "Days of the Week" Song: Mandy claims to be able to break your heart any day of the week. Do you doubt her?
- Intercourse with You: Gardenia.
- God-Is-Love Songs: Contributed a version of "Only Hope" by Switchfoot to the A Walk To Remember soundtrack, playing up this angle. The fact that her version is
the more popular version cemented the song's place in this category. - New Sound Album: Technically Coverage was when she started showing off her alternative roots.
- Prefers Going Barefoot: She usually performs onstage barefoot due to her large feet (she's a size 10) because she has difficulty finding shoes that feel comfortable to perform in. This predicament of hers was lampshaded in the music video for Brett Dennan's song "Make You Crazy". Interestingly enough, a certain Disney Princess that Moore's voiced prefers going barefoot as well.
- Rock Is Authentic, Pop Is Shallow: She completely disavowed her first two teen pop albums, and since then she became more of an alternative artist. She seems to have softened on this, as she celebrated the 20th anniversary of "Candy" in 2019 warmly.
- Self-Deprecation: Often makes fun of her feet for being size 10.
- Shoe Size Angst: See above.
- Statuesque Stunner: Hey, some people like tall women, considering that she's 5'10"!