Mandy Moore talks Silver Landings and This Is Us on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Mandy Moore recently appeared on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon for a chat about her career, plus a performance of “When I Wasn’t Watching.”

On Thursday night, Mandy Moore appeared on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon to perform the first single off of her new album “Silver Landings” called “When I Wasn’t Watching.”

However, before she performed, the two sat down for a chat about her career.

More from This Is Us

• How to watch This Is Us series finale tonight (May 24)
• How to watch This Is Us Season 6 Episode 17 live tonight (May 17)
• How to watch This Is Us Season 6 Episode 16 live tonight (May 10)
• How to watch This Is Us Season 6 Episode 15 live tonight (May 3)
• Who plays Sophie on This is Us?

Fresh Start

As you may know, “Silver Landings” is Moore’s first musical release since her 2009 album “Amanda Leigh.” In February of 2019, she opened up on comedian Marc Maron’s podcast WTF with Marc Maron about her hiatus and cited a psychologically abusive marriage to singer and producer Ryan Adams as the cause. Moore and six other women would come forward with allegations against Adams of sexual, psychological, and emotional abuse two days later.

Fallon started the late-night interview by asking Moore what inspired the name of the album to which she told him:

"“[…] It was the last song that we wrote for the record, and to me, it was sort of like the idea of silver linings, actualized. Something that felt grounded and earthbound and everything that it sort of took to write and record and make this record after being gone for so long.”"

Moore told Fallon that in writing the album, she revisited her older work. Moore, who began her career when she was 15, said that despite spending much of her adult life apologizing for her earlier, less mature work, she has a new appreciation for that time in her life:

"[…] I’ve kinda come full circle to have a lot of affection for that girl because she lives with me, and I carry her around, and she’s the reason we’re talking. So it’s been an interesting thing to sort of digest and come to terms with over the course of making this record too.”"

Patience

From there, the conversation shifted to Moore’s acting career as she revealed that she almost walked away from acting following four failed TV pilots and a failed audition for a part that she didn’t even want:

"“I was like, ‘This is the universe telling me this is done for me.'”"

Moore told Fallon that she was considering moving back to her hometown in Florida and going back to school; however, she decided to give herself a few days to cool off and then decided to press on:

"“I think the idea of just the constant nature of rejection being a part of the “actor’s life”, I had some patience and-and six months later, This Is Us came into my-my world. It changed everything.”"

 I’m sure we’re all glad she persevered! While it’s been truly heartbreaking watching an older Rebecca Pearson deal with her Alzheimer’s diagnosis, especially watching her season after season as she’s juggled the challenges of motherhood, Jack’s alcoholism, and keeping her family together in the wake of Jack’s death, with this fourth season of This Is Us, Moore rises to the occasion.

Despite being closer in age to Rebecca during the flashbacks, Moore manages to bring a level of maturity to the role that’s needed when portraying a struggle with a disease that many deal with every day.

Having lost Jack at a young age, and now watching their mother’s memory slowly fade, The Big Three have been through a lot. As Randall and Kevin’s feud continues to spiral, it’s unclear what effect Rebecca’s medical journey will have on the Pearson gang. However, if the flashforwards are any indication, the Pearson matriarch, thanks to Moore’s riveting portrayal, will find a way to keep them all together even after she’s gone.

To close out the interview, Fallon asked her if she’s ever considered directing an episode of the NBC drama, noting that her This Is Us costars Milo Ventimiglia and Justin Hartley each directed an episode this season, Episodes 5 and 13, respectively. To this, Moore expressed her interest to direct and said that she’d likely get her opportunity before the series’ end.

You can catch Mandy Moore when This Is Us returns on March 17 at 9pm ET on NBC.