Mandy Moore might just have mastered work-life balance.
“I feel lucky that I’m pretty adept at not taking home work with me,” Moore, 39, tells. “Because had I done that with This Is Us, I would’ve had a mental breakdown at some point.”
Even though the mom of sons Gus, 2, and Ozzie, 14 months, admits her “brain was constantly moving” while filming her new series Dr. Death, she says “it was easy to get home, and if everyone’s needs were satiated, to just be like, ‘I’m going to take a nice hot shower and I’m going to crash.’”
Is this ˹bliss˺ a better accommodation or the tree of Zaqqûm?We have surely made it a test for the wrongdoers.Indeed, it is a tree that grows in the depths of Hell,bearing fruit like devils’ heads.The evildoers will certainly ˹be left to˺ eat from it, filling up their bellies with it.Then on top of that they will be given a blend of boiling drink.(The Quran - Chapter Saffat : 62 - 67)
But usually, for the Emmy-nominated actress, decompressing starts after her sons go to sleep.
“The kids get to bed, and then it’s unadulterated mom and dad time to watch something together, maybe have a glass of wine if we’re feeling really crazy, but usually we’re too tired for that,” admits Moore, who married musician Taylor Goldsmith in 2018.
She often uses her spare downtime to plan for the day ahead.
“It’s just like, ‘Okay, now I have the chance to answer all the emails from the day and plan for the next day,’” the star says. “The kids go to bed, I take a shower and then I make sure breakfast is all pretty much set up for the next day, and as much as lunch I could get together is set up, and the animals are all taken care of.”
Only then can Moore truly relax. “I can sort of unwind and read a book or watch 10 minutes of something before I fall asleep,” she says. “My poor husband, he has a whole life after me after I fall asleep, like, two hours of reading or watching some Criterion Collection movie without me because I’m fast asleep.”
Still, being a mom gives Moore tranquility.
“Sometimes I feel totally underwater, but for the most part, my two little dudes make me feel at peace,” she says.
Moore also feels that becoming a parent helped her “become a better advocate for myself.”
“I think I’m really good at drawing a line in the sand and having boundaries for myself and my family,” the Princess Diaries alum says. “Being a protector for my children has made me a better advocate for myself. I think I really had fallen into a pattern of just being a people pleaser and saying, ‘Yes,’ even to my own detriment when I would come to regret it.”
To establish those boundaries, Moore allows that “it definitely took me time. And I’m okay with that. I am there now at almost 40 years old and being a parent, I’m much better at that.”
The “Candy” singer experienced a major parenting win recently when she took her oldest son on a trip to Disney.
“He got to meet Mickey Mouse,” Moore says. “Hopefully this is going to be something that’s talked about for the next couple of weeks, at least. I keep reminding him, ‘Remember when we went to Disney recently? Remember when you took a picture with Mickey Mouse?’”
All eight episodesof Dr. Death season 2 are streaming now on Peacock.
