Why Mandy Moore Isn’t Making Movies During ‘This Is Us’ Hiatus

While much of the “This Is Us” cast is working on movies this summer, Mandy Moore has decided to take the summer off ahead of Season 3. The actress just isn’t finding material quite as good as her hit NBC show.

On MyDomaine’s Second Life podcast, Moore opened up about what she wants to do next. She revealed that she wants to produce, an ambition that stems mostly from not finding good projects.

“I have this hiatus from work right now. Everybody else in the cast is off doing stuff right now, and I didn’t find anything that moved me, that made me say, ‘This is what I’m gonna devote my time off to. This is worthy of my energy,’” she explained.

Moore has high standards after joining Golden Globe winner “This Is Us,” where she plays mother Rebecca Pearson. The NBC hit is one of her most gratifying projects ever, and it’s hard to find movie scripts that can compare.

“Because I feel so fulfilled and satisfied with the job that I have, like creatively. I love that it touches people. It checks all the boxes, so to find another job that fulfills me in the same way, I couldn’t,” Moore revealed. “And I realized I have to do something about that. Like I have to go out there and peruse articles and find books and start adapting stuff and start taking my life and my career in my own hands and figuring out what’s next, ‘cause no one’s gonna do it for you.”

Moore hopes to produce documentaries as well as other TV shows and movies. It seems like “This Is Us” has broadened Moore’s career goals in many ways. In addition to producing, she revealed that she also wants to direct, and ideally, she’ll get a chance to on the tearjerker drama.

“Most of us in the cast have ambitions to direct and some of us have before,” she said. “I think because I’ve lived with this family and these stories and the situation. Having the benefit of being on this show, now we’re about to start our third season, I feel like I know the machinery of what it takes to put together an episode. … We live with these people for seven and a half months out of the year. I feel like it’s the perfect training ground. If I’m ever gonna do it, this is the best place to start. It’s the most comfortable. It’s the most supportive.”

Will she get the chance to direct in “This Is Us” Season 3? No announcements have been made yet, but we’ll keep you posted. The NBC drama returns in September.