When I was first starting out in the music industry, I was always coupled in the same sentence with Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera - and I was probably the worst of them. I think a lot of people back then thought, 'Mandy Moore... she'll probably go back to where she came from in a year.'

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.

I love music and I guess I have less expectations or pressure to kind of put on myself because the music hasn't been some huge sensation.

I've really been sort of focused on acting and I feel really lucky because great projects sort of keep coming my way. I guess the criteria that I look for, it gets increasingly difficult because when you have the privilege of working with someone like Diane [Keaton], it's kind of like, 'Well, where do you go from there.'

Music is my first love.

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.

Those situations are weird. You're in a room, and I knew they already loved this guy [for the role], so you're like, "OK, this is a different dynamic."