Mandy Moore would return for The Princess Diaries 3 under one condition: Her character has an “about-face.” “I would love to [return] if they’ll have me and if it makes sense. I don’t want to just sort of bully my way into the film. That would be very Lana of her,” Moore tells StyleCaster while promoting her partnership with Ferrero Rocher.
Moore played Lana Thomas, a popular cheerleader who bullies Anne Hathaway’s Mia Thermopolis in 2001’s The Princess Diaries. With news that a third Princess Diaries movie is in the works, Moore would be open to reprising her role if her character had some serious development. “As long as the character has had a real about-face and has found some sort of redemptive storyline—she’s turned over a new leaf and is a kind human and feels bad for the way she treated Mia—that could be a fun arc,” she says. “But only if it made sense. I am happy to let her live in the first movie, and we all can wonder what happened to her and what she made of her life.”
A lot has happened since Moore was in The Princess Diaries. She filmed six seasons of This Is Us. She married her husband, Taylor Goldsmith, and she had two children: a son named Gus in 2021 and a son named Ozzie in 2022, whom she’s excited to introduce to her family for his first Christmas this year. “Having a new little baby in tow, it’s nice to be able to bring him around and socialize him and really feel like we’re celebrating the holidays together,” she says. With a family of her own now, Moore is also ready to start her own holiday family traditions. “Last year, Gus was so little that he didn’t really understand Christmas,” Now he is starting to come around to the idea and points out lights and is like, “Christmas lights!” He has some vague idea that Santa exists, but I don’t think he understands the purpose,” she says. “I feel like we’re still a little young but maybe now is the right time to carve out what we want to do as a family. It’ll be interesting to navigate this holiday season as a family of four and find ways to honor this time of year together. I don’t know what it’s going to be exactly yet, but I’m excited to figure it out.”
Something she knows she wants to include in future holidays is Ferrero Rocher, a treat her kids have yet to have but something Moore is planning to give them as soon as they’re old enough.”They’re a little too young, but I’m sure when the time comes for them to have a sweet treat and have their first bit of chocolate, it’s going to be Ferrero Rocher, hands down,” Moore says while promoting Ferrero Rocher’s “Give a Golden Greeting” campaign.
Ahead, Moore talked to StyleCaster about her reaction to the This Is Us series finale, what she took from set and what she feels like she would “have to” do if she returned for The Princess Diaries 3.
Image: Courtesy of Ferrero Rocher.
This Is Us’ creator, Dan Fogelman, has said that he always knew how the show would end. When did you find out how This Is Us would end and what was your reaction?
We all were aware that the show, if we were lucky, was going to run six seasons and that was the story arc that Dan had created when he pitched it initially. It wasn’t until halfway through the run of the series that I started to realize, “Oh, this show isn’t necessarily just about the heroic father, but really honoring mom.” Maybe it’s a story that’s a testament to the strength of mothers and what they bring to the table for their families. In this specific case, she was the glue of the family and held everybody together after this tragedy occurred. It wasn’t until halfway through the series that I was like, ‘Oh, I kind of see where this is going.’ Season by season, Dan and the writers would sit us down and give us our story arc, and then they would excitedly start to branch off and tell us about other things that are happening to other characters. You’d end up being there for hours hearing how the season would unfold. But it wasn’t until the last couple of months that I knew this train episode was happening and that was going to be a throughline throughout the end of this last season: the train, the caboose and what it was all leading to.
Were there any talks of a This Is Us spinoff? Are there any stories you would want to see continue?
I selfishly want anything that could include a visit from Rebecca, obviously in the past and not in the present day or the future. It’d be fun to see the mantle taken over by the children, whether it’s Randle’s kids, Kate and Toby’s kids or Kevin’s children. Anything that lives in that world could be really interesting, and I would watch it. But who knows? I’m sure that’s probably not what Dan has up his sleeve next. But I’m hoping that somewhere down the line, there’s some sort of reunion because I would be absolutely game for that.
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This show isn’t necessarily just about the heroic father, but really honoring mom.
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What was the last scene you filmed for This Is Us?
The last scene, I filmed with Milo [Ventimiglia]. We were filming some scenes with three little babies we had never worked with before. It was at the end of the day and way past naptime for these poor kids. It’s a pretty small scene in the final episode, where we find a game that has a model of what our family looks like on the cover. We’re like, “Wow, this is crazy.” And I’m like, “Yeah, we can’t leave this. We have to buy this. This is a sign we can’t leave the store without purchasing this thing.” That was the very last thing. It was Milo and I, and it felt fitting because we filmed the very first scenes of the pilot together. To be able to end it together, especially this last season, where we didn’t get to work with each other as much as we did, it felt like the only way to go out for us.
Did you take anything from the set?
I took my character’s wedding ring, and my moon necklace. Milo and I went and walked through the house and took a bunch of fake family photos. They’re like, “Here! Run to this parking lot and take some selfie-style pictures together, and we’ll hang them in the house and pretend like it’s set decoration!” We took some of those photos out of the frames, and I have them in my house now, displayed like they’re my real family. I was able to take some of the costumes. I got my red dress from the train episode. The green dress that my character wears when she first meets Jack. The Steelers jersey from the Super Bowl episode. A couple of things that have real sentimental value to me that I’m going to just keep and store and gingerly take out every couple of years and just reminisce about this really wild and fantastic time in my life.
There’s been news that a third Princess Diaries movie is in the works. So I have to ask: Would you come back as Lana in Princess Diaries 3?
I would love to if they’ll have me and if it makes sense. I don’t want to just sort of bully my way into the film. That would be very Lana of her. But as long as the character has had a real about-face and has found some sort of redemptive storyline—she’s turned over a new leaf and is a kind human and feels bad for the way she treated Mia—that could be a fun arc. I don’t know. But only if it made sense. I am happy to let her live in the first movie, and we all can wonder what happened to her and what she made of her life.
Would you go back to blonde if you came back?
Sure! I mean, I’d have to! I’d have to.
The Princess Diaries is available to stream on Disney Plus.
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