Emily Osment Thinks Hannah Montana Is Better Off Without A Reboot
“There's something really special about just letting it sit in all of its glory.”
In Elite Daily’s series At The Moment, celebs dish on their current projects, pop culture hot takes, and everything taking over their group chats. Below, Emily Osment talks about her upcoming Young Sheldon spinoff, how her music has evolved over the years, and why a Hannah Montana reboot wouldn’t work.
Emily Osment is reclaiming her throne as the queen of the multi-cam sitcom. After three seasons on the single-cam Young Sheldon, which is currently airing its final season, Osment will return to the genre she’s excelled in throughout her career in a newly announced spinoff focused on her character Mandy’s relationship with Montana Jordan’s Georgie. “With multi-cam, the whole energy is like putting on a play every week,” Osment tells Elite Daily. “It's a field I'm familiar with and that I love and I miss.”
Osment first proved her knack for sitcoms when she starred in Hannah Montana as Hannah’s plucky bestie Lilly from 2006 to 2011. In recent years, there have been rumors about the beloved Disney Channel series possibly getting some sort of revival or reboot. But despite her love for the show, Osment just doesn’t see a return to it working at all.
“I think it's probably a little too late for that,” she says. “It would involve too much revamping and rewriting, because it's deciding where those characters live 15 years later and whether they all still intersect. And that type of comedy wouldn't work in our older selves. It was very slapstick-y and it was very over-the-top.”
Osment would rather let Hannah Montana live on as a nostalgic gem. “It's best if you just sit back and admire it instead of trying to beat it,” she says. “There's something really special about just letting it sit in all of its glory, and we get to look at it and go, ‘Hey, look what we did.’ I'm very proud of that.”
She’s also not interested in revisiting her music from those Disney days. After releasing a string of pop singles in the late 2000s, Osment re-entered the music biz in 2019 as Bluebiird. Her debut EP is full of confessional folk-rock songs that highlight just how much her artistry has developed.
“When you're 18, I think you can get kind of strong-armed into doing something poppier than what you're used to because that's what sells,” Osment says. “I've been a huge classic rock fan since I was a kid. And I love writing to acoustic guitar. I was writing with other people back then — and we wrote some incredible songs — but it wasn't necessarily my entire vision. But with Bluebiird, this is 100% me. This is 100% my vision.”
Osment is currently finishing up her second Bluebiird EP, which she hopes to release in late spring with a lead single called “Porcelain Doll.” And as Osment is honing her new sound, don’t expect to hear another collaboration with her one-time duet partner Miley Cyrus. When asked if there’s a door open for another song together, Osment doesn’t offer much hope: “Maybe a pocket door. Maybe a tiny window, but most likely no.”
Osment has her eyes securely set on the future in her acting career as well. As she’s saying goodbye to her role on Young Sheldon (a Big Bang Theory spinoff), she’s also preparing for an upcoming spinoff of her own. “It is a weird position to be in,” Osment admits. “It’s a very strange, bittersweet feeling. I'm going to miss everybody a lot, but hopefully all of our wonderful friends on Young Sheldon come visit us as guest stars on the new show. That would be my dream.”
As Osment gets ready to embark on this next chapter, she shares the actor she dreams of working with someday, her current style icon, and which Haley Joel Osment movie deserves more recognition.
Elite Daily: What's the last TV show you marathoned?
Emily Osment: Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Man, what a show. Maya Erskine is incredible.
ED: What musical artist are you loving right now?
EO: I've been really liking everything that Emancipator makes.
ED: Do you prefer scary movies or comedies?
EO: Comedy. I don't really like scary movies.
ED: What's your favorite performance by your brother, Haley Joel Osment?
EO: I really liked him in the Entourage movie. I thought that was such a turning point for him because people finally got to see how freaking funny he is. He's got one of the best pratfalls I've ever seen.
ED: Who's an actor that you dream of working with someday?
EO: Julianne Moore.
ED: What musician most inspires your music?
EO: Elliott Smith.
ED: What's your go-to karaoke song?
EO: “Don't Bring Me Down” by ELO.
ED: What’s a character type you haven’t really played before that you’d love to try?
EO: It would be very fun to play a truly evil character. It would be so different. But when you're blond and in comedy, those don't come very often.
ED: What's your usual coffee order?
EO: I don't really drink coffee. If I have coffee, it'll just be black coffee because I'm using it for a purpose.
ED: Who's your style inspiration?
EO: Florence Pugh. I think she's just taken a stand towards femininity and she's such a bad*ss at the same time. Everything she wore this awards season was so cool.
ED: What's the best advice you've ever been given?
EO: Let your ego die every day that you get up.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
