Tag: mandy moore
Watch Darren Criss Fan Out Over Mandy Moore’s Musical Past (June 13th, 2018)
(Source: https://player.vimeo.com/)
Watch Darren Criss Fan Out Over Mandy Moore’s Musical Past
Before anything really cracking into the discussion on Variety’s “Actors on Actors,” Darren Criss had to first reveal his early days obsession with Mandy Moore’s early singing career.
“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” actor praised “1999’s seminal ‘So Real’ album.” Mandy Moore’s debut album. “Not sure if you’re familiar with it,” he joked.
The “This Is Us” actress immediately responded: “I would love to give everyone their money back that bought this record!”
Despite Moore’s delightful protests Criss leaned revealing he was a true Monday stan from way back in the day, and proclaimed that his favorite track off the record was actually was only 15 seconds. “It’s the telephone interlude where you get to hear, I don’t know, maybe a 15 or 16-year-old Mandy Moore!”
Without missing a beat Criss recites the album’s special recording from a young Moore and an unknown friend.
“‘Hi guys. It’s Mandy. You know what to do after the beep.’ And then this mysterious character leaves a message who I kind of wanted, as a lover of narrative, to hear more about–this chick Bonnie. But it goes: ‘Beep. Hey Mandy, it’s Bonnie. I heard what happened. Call me back.’ Click. And then I think the ‘Walk Me Home’ song starts.”
Turning pink laughing, Moore said: “I haven’t thought about this in probably 15 years.”
The “Versace” star explained how he would see the “This Is Us” matriarch on MTV, and thought “hearing her talk, hearing her voice as a human being was so sexy and interesting,” he said. “I was like: ‘Whoa, she’s just a kid. I’m a kid. Cool.‘”
Criss also disclosed how he first heard the song on a mini disc player while on a roadtrip, rewinding and “being like: ‘It’s only 15 seconds? What happens? What happens here?”
Moore cooly avoided spilling the beans: “What was she referring to? We’ll never know.”
The Emmy Award-winning “Actors on Actors” series will air in two episodes on PBS SoCal KOCE, the first on Tuesday, June 19 at 7 p.m. and the second on Thursday, June 21 at 7 p.m. Both episodes will stream on pbssocal.org following their premieres.
Mandy Moore and Darren Criss on Challenges of Stepping Into Leading Roles
Neither Mandy Moore nor Darren Criss are new to the television scene, but both found breakout success with their current roles, which showed off their range as performers. As the family matriarch in “This Is Us,” Moore seamlessly embodies a character across four decades, while Criss deftly plumbed the depths of a serial killer in “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.” After bonding over a favorite track from Moore’s musical days, the two actors settled down to talk about working with visionary producers, chasing their dream roles, and coping with the responsibility of stepping into a leading role.
Mandy Moore: How did you get involved with “The Assassination of Gianni Versace”? Did you know immediately you wanted to audition for Andrew?
Darren Criss: The short version is I worked with Ryan Murphy on “Glee” for a bit. Although never directly, in the sense that, because I joined the second season. So I didn’t have that sort of “We’re building this thing together” relationship, but I was always sort of envious. I remember visiting the set of “Scream Queens” in New Orleans, and I had my 15 minutes with Ryan. I was like, “Hey man, heard you’re doing ‘American Horror Story’ with Lady Gaga. Let me know if you need like a wily bellhop on that show!”
Moore: So you just pitched yourself!
Criss: Relentlessly, without any shame. And he was like, “No, but I’m doing this crime story. I want to make it an anthology and I really want to explore this story about Andrew Cunanan and Gianni Versace. How much do you know about Andrew Cunanan?” The only reason I remembered it was because he was half Filipino and being a half-Filipino kid, it’s a thing that I would remember ’cause of we have similar ethnic background. He said he wanted to have it be a manhunt character piece, and so, as an actor, you’re like, “Sure.” The word character piece is great, not for the ego of being all about you.
Moore: Right, just for the juicy challenge of it.
Criss: Yeah, and also just having the breadth of space to dive into something. Which you aren’t always granted the luxury of doing.
Mandy Moore and Darren Criss on Challenges of Stepping Into Leading Roles
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