Mandy Moore is a beloved actress and singer who rose to fame in the early 2000s when she released her first single “Candy” in 1999. In the years that followed she switched over to acting and stole our hearts with roles in films like A Walk to Remember, How to Deal and Because I Said So. Moore took a brief hiatus from her career when she married singer-songwriter Ryan Adams, but she’s making a huge career comeback with her new role on NBC’s This Is Us! The series has generated a lot of buzz and fans are already head over heels in love with the show and it’s cast members, including Mandy Moore. In celebration of this — here’s 10 things you might not have known about the former bubblegum pop star!
10. Becoming an Actress
She was born on April 10, 1984 in Nashua, New Hampshire, to Stacy, a former news reporter who once worked for the Orlando Sentinel, and Donald Moore, a pilot for American Airlines. She is the middle child of three, with an older brother named Scott and a younger brother, Kyle. Her family moved to Orlando when she was only six weeks old and she was raised in a Catholic household, although she doesn’t necessarily practice any particular religion today. Her desire to become an actress started after she went to see the musical Oklahoma! Her grandmother was the one who actually encouraged her to go after this dream and as a child she was often chosen to sign the national anthem at sporting events. She got her big break when a FedEx man heard her singing at a recording session and he told his friend at Epic Records A&R. Not long after she was signed to the label!