Was being Hannah Montana traumatic for Miley Cyrus? (Photo Credit – Instagram)
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In a candid interview with CBS, she revealed how hard it was to separate herself from the character who made her a household name. “I toured as Hannah Montana and as myself,” Miley confessed. “I think that’s probably why something is wrong with me now. I mark that up as doing some damage to my psyche.” Yeah, it wasn’t all glitter and teen stardom behind that iconic wig.
Was I being both Miley Stewart and Hannah Montana for years? Major identity crisis vibes. One minute, she’s the teen pop queen with millions of fans; the next, she’s just a regular girl without the wig. “When I looked like myself when I didn’t have the wig on anymore, that no one cared about me,” Miley said. Heavy stuff for a 13-year-old to juggle, right?
Hannah Montana dropped in 2006 when Miley was just a teen and wrapped up in 2011 after giving us movies, concerts, and killer soundtracks. But by the time Bangerz hit, Miley had spent nearly a decade living two different lives. “I had gone from being a character almost as often as I was myself,” she admitted, trying to figure out who she was once the show was over. Talk about a tough transition.
It wasn’t until Miley shot the Wrecking Ball video that she felt liberated from the Hannah persona. She reflected, “It changed my life. I felt like that boundary, that divide [between her and Hannah Montana] was very clear.” And she needed that. Growing up as someone else—someone more significant than life—wasn’t easy. “Without Hannah Montana, no one cares about you,” Miley recalled, a sentiment drilled into her head back then. Breaking free from that was a massive hurdle.
Miley didn’t just struggle with her identity off-screen. The pressure to live up to the public’s expectations led her to create some wild personas, including the one who twerked on Robin Thicke at the 2013 VMAs. She admitted that she played into the chaos, saying, “When people gave a shit that I would stick my tongue out… I would do it more.” Classic Miley, right?
She also opened up about how her past persona shaped her rebellious stunts, noting that, at times, she felt she had to create an exaggerated version of herself. “I was aware of how people saw me, and I kind of played into it a little bit,” Miley said, adding that her wilder antics resulted from years spent trying to meet others’ expectations.
Fortunately for Miley, she broke free from the Hannah Montana-sized shadow. She even told Rolling Stone last December, “I had to evolve because Hannah was larger than life, larger than me.” But, as she now knows, she can top that success alone.
So, Miley’s been through it all—from the Hannah Montana wig to Wrecking Ball swings, and she’s still standing strong, learning from every moment.
