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1. After beginning her career as a pop star and having just one acting credit\u2014a supporting role in The Princess Diaries\u2014<\/em>on her resume, Mandy Moore<\/strong><\/a> fought for the role of Jamie after reading the Nicholas Sparks<\/strong> novel and falling in love with the character and the story.<\/p>\n “I had such a visceral reaction to it that I remember not being able to read because I was almost hyperventilating while I was crying,” she told the Los Angeles Times<\/a><\/em> in 2010. “It was my first movie and I know people say it may be clich\u00e9 and it’s a tearjerker or it’s cheesy, but for me, it’s the thing I’m most proud of.”<\/p>\n 2. But someone else almost landed the lead role over Moore, according to Shane West<\/strong><\/a>, whose character Landon romanced the\u00a0terminally ill teenager.<\/p>\n “There was someone else\u2014who I’m not going to say right now\u2014whose name was batted around for Mandy’s role,” West coyly told Entertainment Weekly<\/em>. “I remember I wasn’t keen on that idea and thankfully it didn’t happen.”<\/p>\n 3. While West wouldn’t divulge the other actress in contention, director Adam Shankman<\/strong> revealed she was another young singer.\u00a0<\/p>\n “The studio had me looking at Jessica Simpson<\/a><\/strong>,” he shared with Elle<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0“But I was driving up Laurel Canyon, I heard Mandy’s song ‘I Wanna Be With You,’ and I thought, who the hell is that little angel voice? I went to the Virgin record store, saw her face, and flipped out. I said, ‘That’s my girl.'”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n