Mandy Moore Film and Career
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Although teen dance-pop sensation Mandy Moore may rank alongside Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera as one of the most popular female singers of her generation, her midriff-free image and genuine vocal talents have propelled her from the recording studio to movie sets in projects that are both family friendly and positive in nature.
Born in Nashua, NH, and raised in Orlando, FL, Moore was inspired to pursue a career as a vocal artist after attending a stage performance of Oklahoma! and witnessing the entrancing effect the lead performer had on the audience. Honing her skills with singing lessons and countless bedroom performances of “The Wind Beneath My Wings,” Moore took to musical theater and began regularly performing the National Anthem at local sporting events.
It wasn’t long before two producers who had heard her sing at a game asked if she would be interested in cutting a demo. Eagerly accepting the offer, the young songstress recorded her first album at 14, with film roles following close behind.
Gaining confidence in front of the camera with her self-titled MTV show in addition to appearances on The Andy Dick Show and a children’s video entitled Magic Al and the Mind Factory, Moore loaned her voice to the character of a Girl Bear Cub in Dr. Dolittle 2 before making her feature debut (much against type as she claims) as a mean cheerleader in The Princess Diaries (2001).
Dying her blonde locks brunette for her first major role in A Walk to Remember (based on Nicholas Sparks’ best-seller), Moore brought her comparatively chaste image to the screen in an innocent tale of young lovers from opposite sides of the spectrum.
Low key and with a plot that leans toward Christian themes, Moore proved with her feature debut that her values come well before public image regardless of how un-chic they may color her in the public eye.
Publicly admitting that she was gravitating towards a career in front of the camera since it was easier than singing, Moore continued her onscreen career with the release of How to Deal in 2003.
Though the film was immediately savaged by critics, many were quick to point out that the presence of young Moore was likely the movie’s sole redeeming factor.
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. Her next film was 2004′s Chasing Liberty, a romantic comedy that grossed approximately $12 million.Both films received negative reviews; 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,” and adding in his Chasing Liberty review that she has “undeniable screen presence and inspires instant affection.”
Other critics described her as an “actress of limited range,” though one review of Chasing Liberty noted that she was the “most painless of former pop princesses.” 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, though it did not receive a wide release. Moore received praise for her performance, with one critic calling her a “demented delight” and another naming it her best performance to date. 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 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.
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 which aired in May.
Moore also appeared in the parody 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”. Moore has said that she enjoys playing mean-spirited characters but fears being typecast as a villain.
American Dreamz opened at number nine at the U.S. box office, eventually totaling barely $7 million, and received mixed reviews; critic Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly, however, wrote that Moore and co-star Hugh Grant have a “wicked barbed chemistry” in their roles, while Variety’s Robert Koehler said Moore’s role was a “pitch-perfect study of a woman for whom a reality show is reality”.
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. She was also originally cast to appear in that year’s ensemble film Bobby, but was replaced by Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
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. 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, Keaton’s character. It was released on February 2, 2007 and received mixed reviews.
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. However, according to Variety, Moore’s own acting was “appealing.” 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, Mandy Moore filmed the romantic comedy Swinging with the Finkels in the United Kingdom in 2009; the film is due for release in 2010.
Moore is also stared as Princess Rapunzel, the tenth Disney Princess, in the animated 3D Disney film Tangled (2010).
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