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Actress takes 'Hannah Montana' to the big screen

Published online on Monday, Apr. 06, 2009

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LOS ANGELES - The steady beep of a school bus backing up fills the early morning air. It mixes with the drone of street traffic to create the melody of the city.

All of the traffic is passing by a rather nondescript set of buildings on Sunset Avenue. The majority of the drivers struggle through their commutes unaware of the tight security needed to get access to the complex they are passing.

The security is necessary on Stage 9B, where the popular Disney Channel series "Hannah Montana" films, otherwise it would be overrun by Miley Cyrus fans.

On these few permanent sets of a beach location and the family living room a musical empire was born that ranges from toys to DVDs to the feature film "Hannah Montana: The Movie," which opens Friday.

The cast is rehearsing on this Wednesday morning for an upcoming episode where Miley's grandmother, played by Vicki Lawrence, arrives for a visit. Her car is such a wreck that it triggers a series of comedy events. The actual filming will be done later in the week in front of a studio audience.

During a break from rehearsals, Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley's real life and TV dad, talks about how comfortable it has been working on the set for 78 episodes. He wanted to feel that same kind of comfort for the filming of the movie. It just took some convincing of the studio on his part.

In the movie, music superstar Hannah Montana, the on-stage persona of Miley Stewart, has reached a point where she no longer wants to live a double life. Her dad takes her back to her roots to see if her love of music is still there.

Billy Ray had a very specific idea as to where the movie had to be filmed, Tennessee. Miley was born in Franklin, Tenn., a small community in the shadow of the country music center of Nashville. Even the title of Billy Ray's new album is "Back to Tennessee."

"They were not going to make the movie in Tennessee even though it was about us going back to Tennessee," Billy Ray says. "I flew home and took pictures of locations within a 20 mile radius of Franklin, Tenn.

" 'I said guys, here's your movie.' They just wanted to know if they could meet the financial dollars. I told them to give them a shot. Tennessee came to the table. The movie would not have been the same had Miley and I portrayed us going home to Tennessee and living out of a suitcase somewhere else."

Billy Ray returns to the living room set on Stage 9B to rehearse the next scene.

Mitchell Musso, who plays Miley's friend Oliver, rehearsed his big scene earlier. He's only 17 but is already a veteran of many TV and film projects. He calls working on the movie a weird experience.

"Here, if I fall down, the audience laughs. So, I know it works. For all of the bits in the movie, I would get no feedback. That meant I had to trust the director to know what is funny. You have trust people a lot more than when we are working here," Musso says.

Suddenly, Miley breaks into what sounds like an Ethel Merman impersonation. A member of the crew jokes there should be no more coffee for the young actress. Whether it is the coffee or not, the rehearsal moves quickly.

During a move to another set, Miley talks about how different it was working on the feature film that is a little more serious in tone than her television series.

"When I lived in Canada with my dad for four years I did theater. When I was younger I had not planned on getting a sitcom. I had planned on training for awhile and maybe getting it when I was 18 or 19," Miley says. "What little training I had was more in drama. So I found the movie easier to do."