The “Hannah Montana” 20th anniversary has taken over pop culture and social media this week, with nostalgia-ridden fans celebrating with themed watch parties, Y2K outfits and replaying their favorite moments and songs from pop icon Miley Cyrus.
Giving the massive fandom a reason to celebrate was a hefty task for showrunner Ashley Edens, who previously teamed up with Disney and special EP Alex Cooper on Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas’ installment of “Call Her Daddy.” But according to Eden, it was Cyrus who “took the lead” to give the fans what she knew they wanted.
“It was so important that the special be for the fans — I think that was the lens in which we looked at everything that we decided to put in,” Edens told TheWrap. “I think the fans would have loved more and more and more, but for the hour special, it was important that we give them everything that we could that felt authentic to Miley.”
For Cyrus, that meant grounding the special with an interview with Cooper woven throughout, paired with a live performance with fans and cameos from her family as well as fellow superstars Selena Gomez and Chappell Roan (more on how those cameos came together below). Edens called the special “lightning in a bottle,” musing at how quickly everything came together, with the interview filming on Day 1 and the performances filming on Day 3.
“I’ve done a lot of shows and specials, and I have to say … this is one of those bucket list moments where … you can’t explain it or put your finger on it, but the energy and the support and the excitement and the passion from everybody was was unlike [one] that I’ve been on in a long time, and that comes from Miley, quite honestly, and Tish,” Edens said, applauding Tish Cyrus-Purcell for wearing the hats of mom, manager and producer. “No one knows better than Tish.”
Below, Edens reveals the cameo that almost happened, explains why the original cast wasn’t involved and more. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
TheWrap: How did the cameos with Selena and Chappell come together?
Edens: Really, in talking with Tish and Disney, we all really wanted Selena. Selena and Miley are friends. I think they talked at the Grammys earlier, and if their schedules worked out, we just thought, “who else?” No one else has walked in their shoes and they are genuinely friends. [It’s] just a cool moment, I think, for two powerful, successful women that grew up in this world to support one another, and that’s what this was about. I love that Selena came through for Miley.
Chappell is a massive Miley fan, and I don’t know if it came through from Tish or not, but Chappell was just one of those people that we felt like represented a younger artist and someone really in Gen Z that grew up on Miley and grew up Hannah and really related to the story of Hannah Montana — she saw herself in that role, and so that was a special moment. I don’t think they’d ever met, so it was really sweet. Chappell was adorable with Miley.
Were there any other cameos on the wishlist that didn’t work out? Who else did you want to include?
Sabrina [Carpenter] was going to be a part, but she wasn’t available that week. She really wanted to be a part, because obviously, much like Chappell, she grew up on Miley and Hannah, and had a relationship there. She was just not available.
What went behind the choice not to include some of the original cast in the special?
We toyed around with what was the most heart-led for Miley. If maybe we had a two-hour special, there would have been room, but I really think this is about Miley and her experience and I hope that comes across in the special.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want anyone else there — I think her love for all those classmates comes through — but … in the hour special, we really just leaned into Miley and her experience and it being through her lens.
Miley and Billy Ray haven’t always been on the best terms, which Miley addresses in the special, but we have this sweet moment between the two of them. What was it like bringing him into the plans and why did you land on reading a scene from the series finale?
When I watched that scene back, still, it’s so emotional. No other family’s gone through this, and it was very unique to the Cyrus — it was their real life. Miley was so excited to have her dad there. It was genuine. It was an emotional moment, watching the two of them and that scene — we knew we wanted to do a scene, and that scene in particular, I just felt encapsulated not only what a TV character, a celebrity, goes through, but that’s a very honest and real representation for a parent and child as well. It’s universal while at the same time very specific. That scene, to me, encapsulated a lot. Miley was totally on board. Billy was on board. It wasn’t over the top, it’s just very genuine.
Fans loved Miley recreating her viral goodbye moment from the show. Can you tell us about crafting that moment?
Miley was just so down to do it, and she wanted to be in that outfit. We knew we wanted it to come after the performance, and that’s the thing about Miley — she leaned all the way in. She wanted to perfect it. We did it a couple of times, left, right — she’s taller now, so we had to have her scoot down a bit, then she would watch it again and just make sure it was perfect.
She knew she was giving the fans what they love. [Originally] that was in the “Younger You” … video in the screen projection we had that moment. She was like, “No, no, no … let me do it for real and then not give it away there.”
There were some fans speculating about the jukebox staying on when the set goes dark. What went into that choice?
I don’t think that was a choice. I think that wasn’t on the same house power as everything else. I would love for it to have a deeper meaning.
Some fans were speculating it meant that it’s the music that lives on from the show.
We love that — let’s go with that: The music lives on. Well, there was another song to come.
When did Miley’s idea for her new song, “Younger You” come about and how did you want to give the song its moment in the special?
Miley said that she had a song she thought was very fitting to end the special, and we got to hear it and I was blown away. I mean, the lyrics are incredible. We started talking about how could we really include how Miley Stewart grew up, and what would Miley Stewart be doing today? So when you see her in the field as an adult, that was all part of continuing if Miley Stewart had grown up today.
It just was such a powerful way to end the special, and that lesson of not forgetting who we were as kids and Miley loving and really embracing her life. My nieces are in their 20s, and they called me just bawling crying. I think that song just touches all of us — not forgetting where we came from and who we are — and Miley singing, she’s just so powerful and commanding. In that moment where it’s an instrumental and she talks about how she’s had this life because of her fans. Hannah gave her a start, but her fans have given her a career that — to me, was just so powerful. The imagery of watching Miley Cyrus grow up, I thought that was a perfect ending to the special.
Alex Cooper said there would’ve been enough footage for the special to be 2-3 hours. Was there ever any discussion about extending it or releasing the full interview as a standalone “Call Her Daddy”?
That is something that “Call Her Daddy” and Disney will need to sort out. But yes, [the interview] was an incredible two and a half hours, and … it was a big task to take that on and whittle down, because Alex did a brilliant job with Miley and there was so much there. It was not an easy task to make it into just an hour special, but the best thing you can do is leave fans wanting more, versus “that was a little bit too long.”
The “Hannah Montana” 20th Anniversary Special is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
