Mandy Moore Knows She’s a Role Model, And It’s a Job She Doesn’t Take Lightly

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Actress and singer-songwriter Mandy Moore has partnered with Dove for the Women Who Should Be Famous initiative, which tells the stories of some inspiring real women role models. The 28-year-old is currently working on her seventh album due out early next year. We got to meet with Moore after the event, and were delighted to find that she’s just as sweet and endearing in person as she seems in the media. Here are her thoughts on the Dove initiative, building self-esteem and the importance of having a strong role model.

Best Health: What’s it like being someone in the media who young girls are looking up to? Do you find that it’s a lot of pressure?

Mandy Moore: No, I don’t find that it’s a lot of pressure but it is something that I don’t take lightly. I know that there’s a huge responsibility that comes along with it and I kind of even realized that at a young age too. I guess I’ve just been sort of lucky that it’s kind of aligned with who I am and the decisions that I make. With who I am, what you see is what you get. It’s not like I’m one person on stage and one off stage. So that’s kind of what’s worked I guess to my advantage in life. But it’s an incredible honour and it’s really humbling if somebody were to consider you a role model but it just hasn’t shaped the choices I make necessarily, although it is always somewhere in the back of your head.

BH: What kind of attributes do you hope young women and little girls see in you when they look up to you?

MM: Gosh, I don’t know, that’s a tough one. I mean, when I look at women who I really admire like the women in the [Dove] videos tonight, you know, the real women that were here, I think that they’re present, confident, driven, uncompromising’those are all I think really lovely qualities but I love the fact that some of them are mothers and they manage to sort of shuffle it all around and make it work. I think that those are really inspiring qualities. I hope I at least project to people that it’s okay to carve your own path and not cave to certain pressures. Just be who you are and find your own unconventional brand of beauty and idea of what beauty is and be okay with that.

BH: Growing up who was your role model and has that changed now?

MM: It’s my mom. My mom was my role model growing up and she still is but that’s not to say that they’re aren’t tons of terrific women in my life — both that I’ve had the opportunity to work with but also maybe more behind-the-scenes as well. I just find them to be inspiring and they’re huge influences on my life in one way or the other with the choices they make and the way they choose to lead their lives.

BH: So what do you hope the girls and women are going to take away from the event tonight, and even those who are watching online?

MM: I think what’s most important is highlighting the fact that positive, real women role models are the women that should be famous. They’re the people that we should widen our definition of what a role model is to include them. Just offering that different perspective to girls and showing them that there are tangible examples of women that really should be role models in their lives is important. And that maybe they should be involved in their lives in some way’a teacher, a doctor, a coach, their mom — someone that can really be a genuine influence and that they can have a dialogue with and a conversation with and someone that can be there to guide them in the right direction I think is important.

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