Miley Cyrus Says Country Star Dad Billy Ray Had to Audition to Play Her Father on “Hannah Montana”, Almost Jeopardized Role by Being 'Too Nice'
Miley Cyrus Says Country Star Dad Billy Ray Had to Audition to Play Her Father on “Hannah Montana”, Almost Jeopardized Role by Being 'Too Nice'
Angela AndaloroWed, March 18, 2026 at 8:25 PM UTC
0
Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus) and Robby Ray (Billy Ray Cyrus)Credit: Jaimie Trueblood/Disney Channel via Getty -
Miley Cyrus tells Variety about her journey to playing Miley Stewart, a.k.a Hannah Montana, on the Disney series
Miley's memories include her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, auditioning to play her dad on the show
Miley tells Variety about how the project held special meaning for the Cyrus family
Miley Cyrus says her time as Hannah Montana meant a lot to her family.
The entertainer, 33, is recalling the fateful road that led to her getting the lead in Disney's Hannah Montana in a conversation with Variety, noting she was turned down for an initial audition when the network to go in a different direction after seeing Miley's first taped audition.
A year later, she was brought to Los Angeles to try again, in person, which is when she was awarded the role. As they worked on casting the rest of Hannah's family for the series, mom Tish Cyrus recalls a Disney casting director with a little crush on Billy Ray Cyrus joking, "Too bad we can’t afford her real dad."
Tish's response was, "Oh, maybe you can," seeing an opportunity for the family to spend more time together. Billy Ray was, at the time, splitting time between Canada and Tennessee while shooting the TV drama Doc.
— sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Miley Cyrus and Billy Ray CyrusCredit: JOERG KOCH/DDP/AFP via Getty
The only problem facing the family was that Billy Ray almost gave the role away when coming in to audition. Miley explained that her dad was "too nice" and started encouraging other dads attending auditions for the show with their daughters to audition for what became the role of Robby Ray Stewart.
"He goes out into the parking lot, grabs other dads, brings them into Disney and is like, ‘You should hire this guy! He’s a great actor!’ " Miley recalled.
"And my mom was behind him, squeezing his back, saying, ‘Shut up! We need you to get the role so we can all move out here!' "
Advertisement
“My dad always says, ‘When you knock ’em out, you don’t need a judge.’ We knocked ’em out,” Miley says of the situation, which ended with Billy Ray's casting. Robby Ray appeared in 99 episodes of the series.
"It was so obvious, after all the other dads, that you can’t fake the kind of connection that we have. The inside jokes, the nicknames, the handshakes, singing the songs together. It was a TKO."
Miley Cyrus as Hannah MontanaCredit: DISNEY CHANNEL/BYRON COHEN
Miley also noted that having her dad on set helped protect her from the dark reality other child stars have faced over the years.
“My parents didn’t need me to be famous to survive or to be stable,” she explained. “What happens to a lot of these kids is their parents want it more than they do, or the kids become responsible for the entire income of the family. That was never my job. Every penny I ever made went into my bank account because my parents were good.”
Miley and Billy Ray had connecting dressing rooms on the Hannah Montana set, with an office between the two that served as headquarters for Miley's fan club, managed by her grandmother, Loretta "Mammie" Finley.
"My dad was on set every single day, so there was nothing that could happen that he wouldn’t know about. There was never a time where I was going to be alone in that dressing room," Miley says.
The Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special, premieres on March 24 — exactly 20 years after the original series first aired on the Disney Channel —on Disney and Disney+.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
