20 Years Later, Mandy Moore Swoons Over Shane West In A Walk To Remember Tribute

Mandy Moore is still crushing on Shane West 20 years after A Walk To Remember came out in theaters in 2002. On Jan. 25, the This Is Us star marked the anniversary of the iconic teen romance, which is based on a Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name, by sharing a two-minute video on Instagram of her rewatching the film. “I haven’t seen the movie in over a decade and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than to watch the movie with all of you,” she said.

Moore, 37, set the mood by lighting a candle and preparing a box of tissues “just in case.” Over the next minute-and-a-half, she let out audible gasps, sang along to the film’s standout musical number, and confirmed yet again that she had a major crush on her co-star. “I mean, can you understand why I had the biggest crush ever on Shane West?” she asked. Moore closed out the video by clutching tissues and shouting that their characters, Jamie and Landon, are “forever.”

The Because I Said So actor’s video captured the attention of many stars, including 43-year-old West. “Mandy, this is the best thing ever! Hahaha,” he commented along with several emojis. West, like Moore, has been very vocal about their shared chemistry. In a recent interview with People for the film’s 20th anniversary, he said that he and Moore “always kept it professional” on set even though they “inherently cared about each other.”

“I think when you do [have an attraction] and you’re doing such a sweet story that it just makes it very easy,” West continued. Moore, for her part, recalled a “natural ease” between her and West on set. “Somehow, we sort of just had this really natural, effortless chemistry with one another,” she said. “And I think that comes across in the film and that’s hard to get. You can’t really fake that.”

This wasn’t the first time that the actors opened up about their real-life feelings toward each other. “I think we both had a little bit of a crush, but then we were just there for each other in the most honest and purest of ways,” West told People in June 2021. “That sounds incredibly corny but is true and rare.” Two years earlier, in an interview with BUILD, West revealed that they fell for each other.

“I do know that we absolutely fell in love with each other as human beings and people,” the actor revealed. “I think that is kind of what helped make the relationship and the chemistry work in that film… I don’t even know if we liked each other day one, but it quickly changed day two, and it just kind of grew from that.” In that same interview, he confessed that they held hands on set.

The feeling was clearly mutual. While celebrating the movie’s 15th anniversary, the Tangled star got candid about her feelings. “Shane was so cool,” Moore told Entertainment Weekly in 2015. “Everything about him — the way he dressed, the little cigarettes that he smoked, and the music he listened to. He was the character to me and there was definitely a part of me that absolutely fell in love with him.”