Moore or Less??

I got the call (actually an e-mail) last week that Mandy Moore would be in town chatting up her first starring role in A WALK TO REMEMBER. Lest anyone think that meeting the rich and famous is all a walk in the park, allow me to first dish the dirt about what exactly goes on at a fancy press junket…

First, you're ushered into what they commonly refer to as the "hospitality room." This is where you fight with your fellow journalists for food, a seat and the talent's time. I took my coat off, placed it on the couch and checked in with a rep from WB who informed me that I wasn't on the list. No worries, she says and writes my name down on the seat and I grab a Coke (I think press junkets are the only place in the world where the little pony 8oz. bottles of Coke still exist) and a USA Today. Heading back to the couch, I notice my coat has been moved and my seat snagged. I guess there's no calling fives in the wild and wooly world of entertainment journalism. So being in Rome, I simply waited for the next person to get up and promptly stole their seat. It's a dog-eat-dog world, friends.

Trying to pass the time until my name is called, I start flipping through whatever's on the coffee table in front of me. Press notes (if you've never had the pleasure, I highly suggest you get your hands on a copy. The unintentional humor value is incredible. I wish I could get my hands on a copy of the notes for GLITTER. That's gotta be fall-down-on-the-floor funny), USA Today, The Wall Street Journal. I pick up a schedule of the day's events and start to leaf through. There listed are all the who, what, where, when and why of the day's events. Under "talent" it says Mandy Moore and next to her name (I swear to God) it lists her "handlers." Handlers? More evidence that we treat our celebrities like animals. Animals, I tell you!

I'm surrounded primarily by TV journalists from the local New York stations who, I might add, are the testiest of the bunch. One woman, repeatedly asks a WB rep when her "turn" is. After getting blown off a few times, she gets persnickety and continuously makes huffing noises and looks at her watch and rolls her eyes in a "Duh! I'm like important!" gesture. Shortly thereafter, she's joined by another gent who comes in wearing a three-piece suit (and me in my Old Navy jeans). They schmooze and kiss-kiss each other. It's easy to tell the difference between the television and print/online/radio personalities. The TVers are sharply dressed in the finest duds with make-up caked on and hair impeccably coifed. P/O/R folks are the complete opposite. Most are either overweight, unattractive, and poorly dressed. There are even a select few who manage to complete the trifecta (I came one shy - damn this slender build!).

Considering it's lunchtime, Warners is kind enough to provide lunch for all who attend. There's a table of sandwiches (actually the oh-so-trendy "wraps," which are like sandwich tacos only grosser), pasta, salad and cookies. I'm beginning to wonder if my fellow journalists ever have time to eat. There's one guy to my left who's holding a plate piled with food about two inches below his chin as his other hand works the eating assembly line. Pasta, broccoli, mouth. Pasta, broccoli, mouth. I bet myself $5 he'd lick the fork when he was finished ($5 richer...). OK, enough screwing around. Let's get to the part where I actually interview Mandy:

If you're like me (and I pray for your sake that you're not), a heterosexual male in his mid-20s, you probably have the same knowledge of Mandy Moore that I did. I knew she was a real POA (if you don't know what that stands for, it's probably for the best) but beyond that, my range of information about the girl was extraordinarily limited. I was pretty sure that I wouldn't care for any of her music (a theory proven later) but what about the person? A lesson I learned growing up in the hood was not to hate the player, but hate the game.

So prior to January 17th, I don't think I'd ever heard a Mandy Moore song in its entirety or if I had, recognized it was her. I'm not a big radio guy and even if I do listen, it's not to any station that's playing Mandy Moore. Mostly I geek it up with MP3's and my worn-out copy of the Beatles' ABBEY ROAD. But behind me is a looped VHS copy of Mandy Moore singing one of her new songs from the film. I heard it once. Great. Twice. OK. Three times. Ha-ha. Four times. Groan. Five. This isn't funny anymore. Six. Please. Seven. Make. Eight. It. Nine. STOP. Just before my breaking point, I'm told our room awaits. Before I leave, a woman returning whispers to me "Mandy Moore is SO…HOT." To be forewarned...

I head down the hall and take a seat in a separate room with a table in the middle. I figure I better get comfortable. One thing I've learned from my days at press junkets is that they never start on time. I'm not exactly sure what the talent's doing back there but probably getting a good chuckle out of the fact there's some lonely reporter sitting in a room waiting for them.

As I told JoBlo upon my return, Julia Stiles used to be the hottest celebrity I've ever had the pleasure to interview. Used to be! The official baton passing ceremony will be held at a later date, but consider the reign of Stiles over. Viva la Mandy Moore! Her publicist ushered her into the room where I waited patiently for her and all I could think was, That Veronica Vaughn is one piece of assssss. One a scale of 1-10, 1 being Mr. Ed and 11 being by wife, Mandy ranks a solid 9.95 (.05 knocked off for having freakishly long fingers). OK, now we're getting somewhere.

While talking with her, you'd hardly get the impression she's Mandy Moore (with a reportedly very large posse accompanying her in her hotel room). In fact, there were times I felt bad remarking to myself just how hot she was considering that she's only 17. Seven-freaking-teen for chrissake! Where were the 17-year-olds like this when I was in high-school? Oh yeah…standing behind their boyfriends who were then shoving me into a gym locker. But that's what I love about these high-school girls. I get older, they stay the same age. Yes, they do. Yes. They. Do….(Wooderson rules!)

I feel like we're on a bad first date. She's dressed to the nines for her on-camera appearances. I'm, as I stated earlier, slumming in my Old Navy jeans and ratty old Nikes. We're making awkward conversation. We've even got ourselves a chaperone (Moore's publicist watches over us like a hawk). I try to get the small talk out of the way...

While Mandy has had considerable success as a pop star, her acting career has been limited to music videos and a small role in THE PRINCESS DIARIES. The daunting task of trying to convince an audience she's Sarah plain and forget that she's a gorgeous multi-platinum recording star didn't seem to phase her at all. "I actually met with an acting teacher, I think we had two sessions and that was it. I left him in LA and I went by myself to North Carolina. And the strange thing was, once I got there and I colored my hair and got into costume and stuff like that, as stupid as it sounds, but the physical transformation made me a lot more comfortable becoming the character."

While the role was a stretch to some degree, expect to see some Mandy Moore-esque singing scenes in the film to help the audience along. "The singing was written in there...but down the road I'd like to see more of a distinction between the acting and singing. It's like [in this film] oh yeah, there's gonna be singing. But I'm such a big fan of "Switchfoot," the song I sing in the school play, and to be able to cover that song was an honor for me. It was just weird for me to go into the studio in the frame of mind being Jamey and not be able to perform the song that I wanted, the way I wanted to. And also filming the scene. I had to keep it in my mind that I wasn't making a music video. That was an odd thing to get used to at first." And although she gets to do both singing and acting lately, when asked which is her first love, there isn't a moment's hesitation: "Singing."

Of course, it wouldn't be a Mandy Moore interview if the names Britney and Christina didn't come up. I almost feel bad for her that she seems stuck in the shadow of her sluttier counterparts, but that (also) doesn't bother her. She maintains that she could never feel that comfortable with her sexuality. "I guess it's just me. I'm just 17 and not comfortable doing that." Not that she blames them. "In this day and age, you're criticized for doing the whole sexy thing but at the same time you're getting so much attention for it, that people end up loving it or talking about it. And I guess that's the whole point. It's a lot easier to go down that path, but it's not me."

As we're talking about her co-star and their on-screen romance, talk turns to her current boyfriend Wilmer Valderrama, who plays Fez on "That 70s Show." It''s such an odd coupling that I just have to ask. But before Mandy can finish her sentence, I'm cut off by this morning's chaperone who insists, we're just here to talk about the movie. Oooookay. To her credit, Mandy is more than willing to talk and assures her publicist, "No, it's OK." Wishing to avoid any potential conflicts, I move on.

While I may be making a pretty grand assumption here, most singers/musicians have a hard time being accepted (critically at least) into the world of film. Just look at the aforementioned GLITTER which all but ruined Mariah Carey's career. Critics can be pretty damn harsh when they want to. "[Whether or not to read reviews] is a decision I have to make. I don't know if I'm necessarily going to read reviews of the movie because I'm really proud of my work. And regardless of whether it's a failure, I'm not so dependant on that. Of course I'd love to do other kinds of film projects and if it's a failure, it'll be more difficult to go down that path. But this was such a beautiful experience, no one can take that away from me. And that's all I'm concerned of at this point." What's this? Other film projects you say? While WALK might be a predictable first starring role for the singer/actress, I implore her to branch out to another genre for her next film. She assures me, she's on it. "I'm actually looking at a lot of scripts for independent films...something I can do while I'm recording the next album."

When it was all said and done, I enjoyed our little chat. After being suffocated by a constant loop of Mandy in the hospitality room, I thought that I was in for a long day. But (and I know this sounds corny and reeks of butt-kissing), she was actually a really sweet, bright girl. Maybe I was hypnotized by her beauty (...by her beauty...her beauty...beauty...) but I've got to stick up for this girl. I wish her the best of luck with this film and all her future works. And if things don't work out, you know how to reach me Mandy. Dial 1-900-Mix-A-Lot and kick them nasty thoughts.

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