Fans of Hannah Montana can rest easy: Despite comments to the contrary, Miley Cyrus will not burn her famous wig when the Disney series comes to an end.
"No, I just made a joke and everyone started flipping out," Cyrus says. "I'm not really going to burn it.
"I already burned it," she quips, before quickly adding, "Just kidding!"
Still, it's hard not to see the final season of Hannah Montana (premiering tomorrow on the Family Channel, under the title Hannah Montana Forever) as the end of an era. Cyrus was an 11-year-old when she auditioned for the show; now, the 17-year-old is a millionaire many times over, has sold countless albums and has begun her (often controversial) attempts to be taken seriously as an adult.
Cyrus's fans have grown up, too, going from children who idolize the actress to adolescents who have to worry about college and grown-up life.
And that, Cyrus says, is exactly why this is the perfect time for Hannah Montana to come to an end.
"You don't want it to grow up too much, where the younger audience feel they can't watch the show anymore," she explains. "But also, (don't) go backwards and make it so young that you lose the older fans that you have. So I think it's just kind of come to a point where there's not much more we could do with (the show)."
Now, Cyrus says, she's looking forward to both her career as a singer and as an adult actress. The transition hasn't been an easy one (the tabloids are filled with criticisms about her revealing outfits and suggestive lyrics), but Cyrus points out that she can't stay a squeaky-clean child forever, nor did she ever claim she'd try.
"Yes, I want to be a role model and have people look up to me, but this also doesn't mean that I am not going to live the way that I want to live or (do) what I think is right," says Cyrus, adding that her family still guides her in her decisions.
"They keep me grounded. But that doesn't mean I'm always going to be perfect. ... So I think it's been easier for me to grow up, because I've never faked it, saying that I'm always going to be Hannah forever. I'm going to grow up at some point, and I've been always honest about that."
Make no mistake, though: Cyrus is definitely going to miss Hannah Montana when it's over.
"I'll just miss coming on the set and being with people that are excited to work with you and people that are your real friends," she says wistfully. "(If) we have a good run-through (for) an episode, where people are constantly laughing, it makes you want to come in for the next week and make people laugh again."
Cyrus hopes her viewers will understand the final episode of Hannah Montana may be the end of the series, but it won't be the end for the character they've fallen in love with.
"Life will go on, you know, just the way anyone else's life goes on," Cyrus says. "We made it more about a new chapter and not about the ending of something. It is the end, but it's also the beginning of something new."
Source: montrealgazette
