Mandy Moore
I think it's flattering when people say I'm a role model, but I don't think I am. It depends on your outlook on the word 'role model.' I'm not perfect or anything. I just consider it a great compliment.
When girls feel bad about their looks, 60 percent avoid normal daily activities like raising their hand in class or even going to the doctor. That means that girls do not show up for life when they don't feel good enough or pretty enough. A role model can help girls see beauty as a source of confidence, not anxiety.
In 2009, I traveled to South Sudan with my organization PSI. While there, I visited a local school and met with a group of children who had formed a water club. The group learned about how to treat their drinking water and use proper hygiene practices, such as washing their hands before eating or after going to the bathroom.
I travel the world visiting global health programs as an ambassador for the global health organization, PSI, and sometimes the disconnect I see is truly striking: people can get cold Coca Cola, but far too infrequently malaria drugs; most own mobile phones, but don't have equal access to pre-natal care.
As an Ambassador for PSI and a supporter of Nothing But Nets, I have met individuals around the world who are lending their ideas, their voices, and their time to improve their communities and the world at large. And there are millions more that I have not met.
Tackling malaria in a country like the Central African Republic is a huge uphill battle, and my experiences there have been a healthy dose of reality, fueling my own sense of urgency to do my part in reducing the preventable suffering of the incredible women I met.
I don't cook very well at all. I'm the girl that can't make scrambled eggs.
I understand people have preconceived notions of who I am or what I do. But I do find it a bit bizarre that people find it bizarre that I've grown up.
My hair's naturally dirty-dishwater light brown. Ugly.
I tend to be really competitive when it comes to Scattergories.
I kind of feel, in a way, all of us will forever be asking those questions of ourselves: Who am I and how do I fit in in the world and what is all this about? Because those aren't really... there are no answers to those questions, in a sense.
Marriage is such a mark of adulthood in my mind.
Sweet is good. I'm not a fan of deep-fried things.
I grew up doing musical theatre in Orlando, Florida. When I was 14, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time - a deliveryman heard me singing and offered to deliver my demo tape to Sony Music. I was just really lucky.
Growing up in the public eye was really tough. When you're 14 and your body is changing, your life is changing, and people are watching every step you make, it's really hard to deal with. But I was pretty lucky, people didn't watch me that closely.
I'm lucky to attribute my success to the foundation my family gave me. I've always felt grounded in them.
You can't get anymore classic than being a part of a Disney animated film. To me, that's something I can have in my back pocket for the rest of my life. I'll be able to show it to my kids. I'll be walking around Disneyland, and it'll be bizarre to shake hands with Rapunzel.
Whatever I feel comfortable in is usually what I'll wear. I go to different events and premieres and walk the red carpet... those things are awkward enough on their own. You don't want to be pulling up a top all night. I will sacrifice foot comfort though. I love high heels.
I like pencil skirts because they hug me in all the right places.
Go to the doctor, get a checkup, and get Pap smears regularly. Cervical cancer is very preventable, and if you catch it early, there are tons of ways to treat it as well.
I love looking through magazines, and you know, I love getting dressed up to go to events and stuff.
If someone tied me down and made me answer the question, singer, actress, clothing designer, I most likely - it could change on any given day, but mostly likely I would lean towards singing. It's where I feel most like myself - on stage singing.
There's a classic element that all good Disney movies have. It really comes down to the storytelling, I think. It manages to push all of these buttons inside of us; there's a sentimentality.
People who grew up watching Disney films like myself, there are films that are certain benchmarks in my childhood. 'The Little Mermaid' was the first movie I remember seeing. 'Beauty And The Beast,' 'Aladdin,' those are three I remember right off the bat.
I guess I have sort of an atypical relationship with my mom for someone my age, because I think I started so young with the music thing and I had my parents always on the road with me. So at a time when I think I should have been rebelling, like in high school, they were actually my best friends.
My mom has never been a big meddler and isn't, like, extremely opinionated or at least just doesn't voice it to me. She's sort of let me come into my own by myself, and I think that's just a testament to what my parents did in terms of raising us.
I think I had the most fun making a movie with 'Dedication,' just because you knew that it was a passion project for everyone involved. We had X amount of days to shoot New York in the cold. No trailers. Just sort of kind of doing it guerilla style in a way.
I carry around, like, a little journal with me and just write all the time. Not necessarily, like, actually sitting down and writing lyrics - just freeform writing, whatever's going on in my mind. I write a lot on airplanes, actually, because it's completely isolating.
As a little girl, I thought I'd like to get married on the beach. But I'm not the quintessential girl who had these sort of fantasies about that stuff.
I've gone skydiving twice. I was terrified about doing it, but I wanted to overcome that. The first time, I did it with my parents and I remember that they had already both jumped out, and suddenly it was my turn. And I thought, 'Well, I don't want to be an orphan,' so I guess I have no choice, and I jumped out of the plane.
I'm really kind of boring - I'd rather go to bed early and get up early because I really value my time off, my time away from work.
Rapunzel is a bit more relatable than the other princesses, especially because she doesn't even know that she's a princess until the very end of the movie. I like to think of her as the bohemian Disney princess. She's barefoot and living in a tower. She paints and reads... She's a Renaissance woman.
As long as you're fierce and you have that inner confidence with yourself, you can get through anything.Collection: Long
I believe we all share a responsibility to build a healthier, more just and prosperous world.Collection: Believe
I've never been engaged. I definitely believe in the institution of marriage.Collection: Believe
When two people - regardless of gender - long to care for each other, to protect each other, to treasure each other, we should do everything we can to foster that.Collection: Two
As terrifying as sharks are, I find it far more terrifying, the idea of being trapped on the bottom of the ocean with a ticking clock and running out of air.Collection: Running
I'm slightly controlling. I'm an Aries and I like things to have an order. I get slightly disturbed and I get slightly distressed and flustered if things go awry.Collection: Order
I consider myself to be a romantic person, and I love the idea of having a soul mate.Collection: Ideas
I've been sky-diving three times. I would go right now if someone told me the plane was about to take off. I love it. I'm an adrenaline junkie. I don't want to go bungee-jumping.Collection: Jumping
I learned what love is from loving you.Collection: Sweet
I think communication is key, too. You're answering all the questions. Thank you. I'll just sit back here.Collection: Communication
It depends on the scripts and the character and just everybody involved, the other actors and directors. It's just a gut feeling when you find something, you're like, 'Yes, I want to sink my teeth into that.'Collection: Character
I do find it bizarre that people find it bizarre that I've grown up.Collection: People
I just thought it would be a fun rush of adrenaline to jump out of a plane three times.Collection: Fun
It's so different going in the studio and singing your own music and you don't really think about making sure that the message of the song or the idea behind the song comes across to people. Because it's in your head, it's in your heart, whatever, but it's... different when you're playing a character and you're singing as the character. There's just a lot more involved in that, I guess.Collection: Song
I carry around a little journal with me, a little notebook and a pen and just write all the time. Not necessarily actually sitting down and writing lyrics, just free-form writing, whatever's going on in my mind.Collection: Notebook
I think that dreams, goals, and aspirations, all of that stuff - I'm really lucky to have been able to work with the talented people that I've been able to work with and I hope to be doing that for a very long time.Collection: Dream
I write a lot on airplanes actually because it's completely isolating; there's no one to talk to, there's nothing to do.Collection: Writing