Miley Cyrus Opened Up About the Moment She Wanted to Stop Doing Hannah Montana
It’s been nearly eight years since the final episode of Hannah Montana graced our televisions, and in a new interview with Elle, Miley Cyrus shared the moment she knew she wanted to leave the Disney Channel show. Since the series wrapped in 2011, Miley has talked extensively about her time on the show; although she’s now “proud” of the work she accomplished, she knew at age 18 that her time as Hannah Montana was coming to an end.
Speaking with Elle for their August cover story, the singer said “the minute” she had s’ex, she realized she had grown beyond the series. “It felt ridiculous,” she said. “I was kind of like, ‘I can’t put the f*cking wig on again. It got weird. It just felt like…I was grown up. ”
She also said that people often viewed her as a “Disney mascot” instead of a person; however, she reiterated how proud she is of her work on the series, saying, “It’s pretty cool when you hear Cardi B was listening to Hannah Montana when she was in high school. That sh*t makes me happy. ”
The Black Mirror star said that she now believes she’s earned respect in the music industry for her work outside of Hannah Montana, but she admitted that she’s still trying to figure out who she is as a person and a performer. “I guess that’s what I’m still doing — trying on identities and seeing what fits,” she said. “The fires forced me out of my comfort zone, to find a new place to call home, to say, ‘Listen, I have collected all this sh*t, all these years, but that doesn’t make me who I am. That doesn’t amount to me.’”
This interview wasn’t the first time Miley detailed her experience of growing up in front of the camera. In a previous interview with CBS This Morning, Miley said it was a struggle to balance her real life with the fictional life of Hannah. “I think it got harder when I started touring as both — I toured as Hannah Montana and as myself,” she said. “I think that’s probably what’s a little bit wrong with me now! I mark that up to doing some extreme damage in my psyche as an adult person.” She continued, remarking that regardless of the difficulties, she wouldn’t have changed her career. “I liked being in the Disney universe because I didn’t know anything else. I knew I was getting to live what I wanted to do,” she said.