'I rejected Hannah Montana role before Miley Cyrus got it – reason I turned it down'
Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana made a global star of singer Miley Cyrus. The show ran for four seasons between 2006 and 2011, and even spawned two hit films
A singer who turned down the coveted role of Hannah Montana has shared her thoughts on the experience.
Aly Michalka, 35, is an American actor and singer who shot to fame in the much-loved, yet short-lived, Disney Channel sci-fi comedy, Phil of the Future, as a teenager. She’s also one half of the musical duo Aly & AJ alongside her younger sister.
Aly has starred in a string of films over the years including Easy A and Grown Ups 2, and had key roles in the television series Hellcats and iZombie. Alongside a varied and successful career, she could’ve been the lead in one of Disney’s most popular and commercially successful television shows of all time – Hannah Montana.
The Disney Channel sitcom ran for four seasons between 2006 and 2011 and spawned a theatrically released concert film in 2008 and a feature film in 2009. It made a global star of Miley Cyrus, who played the eponymous popstar Hannah Montana as she tried to juggle fame and fortune with a secret identity as a normal, everyday schoolgirl.
In a recent appearance on the smash hit podcast Call Her Daddy, Aly – alongside her sister and collaborator AJ, 33 – sat down with host Alex Cooper to discuss their Disney beginnings, music career and more. During the episode, Aly confirmed she had indeed been offered the role of Hannah Montana.
Host Alex jumped straight in and asked: “Is it true that you were going to possibly be Hannah Montana?” Aly replied: “I mean, yeah. It’s funny,” while AJ interjected to confirm: “She had the offer.”
Aly went on to explain what might have been: “I had the offer and Phil [of the Future] hadn’t ended at that point – I think they knew it was on the way out, or they had told us, ‘You know, we might not be doing a third season’.”
She continued: “The head of the channel, Gary Marsh, at the time, was like, ‘This pilot has come in and we think you’re really perfect for it’, and I just remember reading it and being like, ‘Wait. But I’m doing music as Aly, and this might be really confusing being Hannah, and being the character also playing Hannah.’ There would be three versions [of me], it would be very confusing.”
Her work with her sister was also a factor in her decision not to pursue the role. Aly said: “Then I was like, ‘How does AJ relate to this?’ and they literally said, ‘AJ could play the best friend part, Lilly’ – but it feels like it’s my show, it’s not really like ‘The Hannah and Lilly Show’.”
Ultimately, Aly came to the conclusion she had “done what [she] wanted to” and had achieved what she wanted to achieve on Disney Channel. The fact she was almost 17 at the time she was offered the role also played a part, with the star ready to move on to try new things.
Call Her Daddy founder Alex said the role “was meant to be for Miley [Cyrus]”, which Aly and AJ both agreed with. Alex then reflected on how “different” the show would have looked with Aly in the role of normal girl Miley Stewart and her famous alter ego Hannah Montana, and AJ in the role of her best friend, Lilly Truscott, which went on to be played by Emily Osment.
People shared their thoughts on social media. On Instagram, one person said: “Oof that was a missed opportunity”, to which someone else replied: “That role was meant for Miley Cyrus. It wouldn’t have been the same if Aly was cast and I say that as an Aly fan.”
A third added: “That’s funny to think how that would change people's careers.”