Mandy Moore just got so real. The singer-actress, 32, opened up about the emotional aftermath of her divorce from musician Ryan Adams on Tuesday, August 2, after a panel for her new NBC drama, This Is Us, at the Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills.
“[I’m doing] fantastic! It’s tough. Life is not easy,” the former pop princess — who married singer-songwriter Adams, 41, in March 2009 — told reporters of how she’s dealt with the last couple years. “I think it’s been great to be able to take all of the chapters in my life and be able to pour it into a job like this because it all helps. It’s all fuel.”
While she didn’t elaborate on what ultimately led to the demise of the couple’s six-year marriage, Moore acknowledged that their split has inspired some of her best work yet.
“I think everything happens for a reason. I think I spent a good portion of the last years of my life really pouring all of my energy into my life and relationship,” she explained on Tuesday, “and now that’s sort of not part of my life anymore. It’s just not a coincidence to me that things sort of opened back up, and I’m able to focus back on myself again.”
As previously reported, Moore and Adams announced their decision to permanently part ways in January 2015. The once-in-love duo cited irreconcilable differences as their reason for calling it quits.
“She had been unhappy for a while,” an insider told Us at the time. “She tried to make things work, and eventually she just had to walk away. She’s trying to keep things civil.”
The pair finalized their divorce this past June. According to TMZ, the Walk to Remember star is keeping the couple’s Griffith Park home and Adams is holding on to his comic-book collection, pinball machines and 1959 Cadillac, among other items.
This Is Us premieres on NBC Tuesday, September 20, at 10 p.m. ET.
