Mandy Moore's Music Career Inspires The New ABC Pilot '90's Popstar'

Source: Instagram

Emmy-nominated actress Mandy Moore is currently starring as family matriarch Rebecca Pearson on the hit NBC drama This Is Us. But, many of us are old enough to remember when Moore was a teenager popstar from Florida back in 1999 when she released her first single, Candy.

At the turn of the millenium, Moore joined Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Jessica Simpson as one of the “it girls” of pop music. But, Moore didn’t want to just sing, she also had acting on the brain. And, while she continued to release albums like So Real and I Wanna Be With You, she also starred in movies like A Walk To Remember and Chasing Liberty.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3feadyA1fR/

Now, according to Variety, ABC has given a put pilot order for a drama series currently titled 90’s Popstar, which is about a family from a small town in Florida whose teenage daughter goes from aspiring singer to pop star “overnight.”

The project comes from writer/producer Amanda Lasher – whose credits include Gossip Girl, Riverdale, and The Bold Type. Moore will also produce the new series, along with This Is Us executive producers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger.

“Big news! I’m so thrilled and grateful for the chance to tell a version of my own story with an incredible team (including our TIU show runners/writers @iaptaker and @bergernight),” Moore wrote on Instagram. “It’s my first project as a producer and I can not wait to watch it come to fruition.”

Moore signed a pod deal in 2018 with 20th Century Fox to develop and produce for television. A pod deal is when a small production company like Moore’s develops their own material and ideas and then sells them to a larger company who covers costs, produces the show, and sells it to a network.

Moore says that her goal has been to find women-focused projects with a musical bent.

In addition to producing this project, Moore also recently released her first new single in a decade – When I Wasn’t Watching. And, she is working on album that will reportedly drop in late 2019 or early 2020.

New episodes of This Is Us air Tuesday nights on NBC.