Who’s Hot: Mandy Moore

By: Marc Regen

There is no doubt about it that there will always be a fresh face in Hollywood. There will always be a bright eyed, eager hopeful who will stop at nothing to be the next icon.

With that said, every month we will bring you a new face or even the face of someone we have grown to love, who has proven themselves time and again. The purpose is to get you acquainted or reacquainted with the person we feel deserves a spotlight each week.

The reason for the spotlight is to recognize why they are so hot in that given month. They could have helped rake in millions at the box office, acted their asses off in the role they were given, put a hot new track out, became the new “IT” girl or guy on the runway or put out the hottest collection that is to die for. You get the gist of what I’m saying. So, as they say in show business, “Get on with the show!”

This month’s Addiction is Mandy Moore of Emmy-winning television show “This Is Us” and this is why she makes the Who’s Hot cut!

First and foremost, I must say that Mandy Moore is one of the most underrated actresses. It is about time that she found a home with a hit show that is able to show the depth of her acting skills and a character that compliments her. On NBC’s series “This Is Us,” Moore portrays Rebecca Pearson. Rebecca is a strong-willed, beautiful woman who became a loyal wife and caring mother to three children at once. She is sometimes emotional, insecure and vulnerable. The importance of a character like this on TV is essential. She is very genuine and real. Rebecca and her husband Jack (played by Milo Ventimiglia) were pregnant with triplets. They lost one of the babies at child birth, but that very same day there was an abandoned infant in the hospital that Jack spotted while visiting his remaining two babies. Jack felt that he and Rebecca were meant to take that abandoned baby home with them and devastated Rebecca was reluctant. Alas, Jack gently pushed her to realize the same thing he was feeling and she managed to open her heart to this other baby. Jack and Rebecca were a white couple who just had two white babies. The abandoned baby was African-American. During the time frame that this loving couple were starting a family, they were stricken with having to deal with the world’s ignorance about an interracial family. The challenge and depth of this character Rebecca is multiplied by two. What I mean by that statement is Moore gets to play younger Rebecca while the story of the Pearson’s is told in the past and she gets to play the older version of the character telling the current story of all of them much older. Moore flawlessly brings the complete Rebecca Pearson to life and viewers get to see some of Moore’s best work.

Whether you are already a fan of Moore or you just started seeing her on the phenomenon that is “This Is Us,” I will bring you up to speed on the evolution of Mandy Moore. Moore, 33, was born Amanda Leigh Moore in New Hampshire. She is not only an actress, but a singer-songwriter. Note that “This Is Us” showed Moore’s musical talent as her character Rebecca has always been a singer, too. Moore became a pop sensation in 1999 when she released her debut album So Real, which included hit single “Candy.” She released a second album in 2000 that included “I Wanna Be With You.” Her subsequent albums Mandy Moore (2001), Coverage (2003), Wild Hope (2007) and Amanda Leigh (2009) have been successful as well. Billboard reported in 2009 that Moore sold more than ten million albums worldwide!

Moore started her acting journey in 2001 when she had a co-starring role in The Princess Diaries as Lana Thomas. Her first major acting gig came in 2002 when she had the starring role as Jamie Sullivan in the classic A Walk to Remember opposite Shane West. Now that I think about it, Moore got her practice inmaking me cry watching her in this role and she keeps the tears steadily a flow playing Rebecca weekly on “This Is Us.” In 2010, she voiced Rapunzel in the animated musical comedy Tangled. You may also remember Moore from the movies Chasing Liberty, How to Deal and Saved! She most recently starred opposite Claire Holt in 47 Meters Down. From 2014 to 2015, she had a recurring role as Dr. Erin Grace in Fox’s Red Band Society opposite Octavia Spencer, but it was cancelled after one season. As for “This Is Us,” Moore was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a series at the 74^th Golden Globe Awards for her role of Rebecca Pearson.

In 2016, Moore appeared alongside other famous celebrities on Rachel Platten’s song “Fight Song” for the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Up until this point, she had been quiet in the music industry and you will be happy to know that in July of 2017 Moore told People of her intentions to return to music. Moore currently does not have a label, but she stated that she has a lot of music written that she wants to put out there in the world.

Moore, among her many talents, has demonstrated good philanthropy and advocates for different issues in hopes to help others in need. In fact, she was one of the demonstrators at the Los Angeles 2017 Women’s March.

These are the reasons that make Mandy Moore so smoking hot in various areas and why she is easily an addiction, but of the good kind. In my best Mandy Moore singing voice, “We Wanna Be With You too!”