14
I couldn’t understand what it meant exactly.
Mandy Moore was at homecoming when she realized her days as a normal teenage girl were behind her.
As she listened to their gripes I can’t believe she’s here.
Who does she think she is?
the teenaged Moore debated whether to come out of the stall and confront them, or continue hiding.
Of course, I waited for them to leave, Moore tells Bustle.
From then on, Moore spent her teens appearing on MTVsTotal Request Liveand touring with NSYNC.
Death.After an 11-year break, she also returned to music, releasing pop-folk albums in 2020 and 2022.
I was always just allowed to be myself.
Let’s go back to 1998 and 99, when you were 14.
What did a typical day in the life look like for you?
I had just started my first year of high school in Orlando, Florida.
I was getting ready to leave because I signed a record deal.
I was going to start recording my first album.
It was very, very bizarre.
I read in a1999 Billboard interviewthat you said you were known as National Anthem Girl.
How did that come about?
It was like a lightbulb moment for me.
I’d only seen adults come out and sing the national anthem.
So I took that ball and ran with it.
I sent in my audition tape to the Orlando Magic, and I got chosen to sing.
Then, that subsequently rolled into the [local] football, ice hockey, and roller hockey teams.
I honestly just did the national anthem circuit around the greater Orlando area.
When you were 15,you saidyou felt like you weren’t growing up fast.
How was time moving for you?
I feel like I didn’t grow up too fast.
I was able to maintain a healthy balance between the two.
Maybe that’s because it was a different time.
I mean, we’re talking 20-some years ago.
There wasn’t social media; there wasn’t that sense of FOMO.
So, I feel like I got the best of both worlds in that sense.
As you became famous, did any scrutiny ever come your way?
What do you remember from recording Candy?
This was the song, and they were going to make it work in some shape or form.
I was the lucky one that got to do it, and it helped jumpstart everything.
What did you think of the song at the time?
I liked it right away.
I was also confused, like,Im missing you like candy.I couldn’t understand what it meant exactly.
Because I took it so literally, I’m like, Well, I do love candy.
I love going to 7-Eleven and getting Sweet Tarts.
I just couldn’t reconcile what it could mean as a 15-year-old who’d barely French-kissed a boy.
What were your relationships like with boys then?
I absolutely had crushes.
I guess I had French-kissed a boy, but that was like the extent of it.
I was just a normal young girl besotted with all of them.
Were there any fun or embarrassing moments you had meeting the boy bands?
I was like 510 and had size 10 feet.
At that point, I was just this long, skinny thing with these long boat feet.
He’s like, I know how that could traumatize you.
I was like, Justin, no, no, no, I’m fine.
It was very, very kind of him.
That was a mortifying moment.
But you know, that kind of stuff, it’s good for you.
This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
