In a new interview, Miley Cyrus admits that playing the title character in “Hannah Montana” messed with her head.
The pop star and “Voice” coach sat down with CBS Sunday Morning and spoke candidly about how her popular on-screen persona sparked identity issues.
“America feels like my aunt [telling me], “You know, you’re growing up so much and we don’t want to see you grow up,” she said, continuing, “I think why people loved Hannah Montana was because Hannah Montana did feel real, and that’s because I was under there.”
Cyrus said the lines between her personas started blurring once she went out on tour as both Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus. When asked how she dealt with that, she replied, “I think that’s probably what’s a little bit wrong with me now. I mark that up to doing some extreme damage in my psyche as an adult person.”
She then credited her provocative “Wrecking Ball” music video as the catalyst for allowing her to distinguish her true self from her squeaky-clean Disney star alter ego.
“I didn’t realize that it was going to shift me into truly being my own person,” Cyrus said. “It changed my life. I felt like that divide, that boundary, was very clear.”
The video’s sexual nature —who can forget a naked Cyrus riding on a wrecking ball — combined with a controversial performance at the 2013 Video Music Awards catapulted the singer into a brand new territory, identity-wise. It also led to a fair share of criticism.
“I got that women-judgment-double-standard in a heavy dosing, and I’m OK with that,” Cyrus said. “I just recently read Hillary Clinton’s book [What Happened] and now I think of things in a whole different way. I always think, ‘If she can lose an election, I can do this.’”
The 24-year-old also reinforced that she doesn’t regret any of her decisions, citing a quote used at a yoga studio she goes to.
“The more that you love your own decisions, the less you need other people to love them,” she recited, before adding, “I’ve learned a lot from a lot of people who have gotten knocked down to get back up, so I’m OK with that.”