Miley Cyrus was known first for being the daughter of country musician Billy Ray Cyrus, then became the lead of her own children's TV show, and later, a controversial pop star. As an adult now, the former child performer says that, when she looks back at the early days of her career, there's so much she doesn't remember because it was too much for her to process at her age. In a 2017 interview with Harper's Bazaar, the actor and singer said that it took until she was in her twenties to actually understand the effects that child stardom had on her.
Read on to see what Cyrus had to say about her lost memories and for her other thoughts on the pressures of being a child actor.
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Cyrus doesn't remember much about her rise to fame.
Featureflash Photo Agency / ShutterstockIn her Harper's Bazaar interview, Cyrus talked about taking some time to step out of the spotlight and reflect on her life, which she hadn't had much time to do before.
"There’s so much I don’t remember about being a child entertainer because it was so much to keep in my brain," the then-24-year-old said. "It’s like anything when you are in it. I didn’t realize how much pressure I was under and how that shaped me until, like, this year."
She said people were "shocked" by the wrong aspects of her career.
Debby Wong / ShutterstockCyrus starred on the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana from 2006 to 2011 as a normal teen living a secret life as a pop star. She was just 13 when the show began. Afterward, Cyrus began focusing more on her music career and faced backlash and criticism for everything from smoking salvia from a bong to sticking her tongue out in photos to twerking with Robin Thicke at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.
"People were so shocked by some of the things that I did," Cyrus told Harper's Bazaar, comparing her adult decision to the ones made for her when she was a kid. "It should be more shocking that when I was 11 or 12, I was put in full hair and makeup, a wig, and told what to wear by a group of mostly older men."
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She didn't realize how much was being put on her shoulders until later.
Everett Collection / ShutterstockIn an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, also in 2017, Cyrus again spoke about what it was liking working on Hannah Montana and having other people control everything she did.
"I liked being in the Disney universe 'cause I didn’t know anything else," she said (via People). "I knew I was getting to live what I wanted to do. I think now that I’m older now, I realize that’s a lot to put on a kid." She continued, "It’s a lot to put on a kid to have them have to get their makeup done and then also balance school and then also have me dress up in a wig. It’s a little Toddlers and Tiaras."
She felt like she had to be an adult as a kid.
DFree / ShutterstockIn a different Harper's Bazaar interview, this one in 2013, Cyrus said that after working on Hannah Montana, "I took off and I just wanted to party. I worked so hard, and I wanted to buy a house and just chill." She added, "I was an adult when I was supposed to be a kid. So now I'm an adult and I'm acting like a kid."
This idea also influenced one of her songs, 2017's "Younger Now," which was also the title of her sixth studio album. In an interview with NPR, she shared where the inspiration for the music came from.
"Well, it was during Christmas time. I was dressed as a reindeer, and I had blinking earrings, and I had the antlers on, and my sweater was blinking and all that—and my mom was like, 'When did you become an eight-year-old?' And I said, 'I feel younger now,'" Cyrus explained. "I feel less like I have anything to prove."
