Miley Got Real About The Positives & Negatives Of ‘Hannah Montana’ & It’s Very Revealing

You can't always have the best of both worlds. In a recent interview, Miley Cyrus' quotes about Hannah Montana revealed just how much starring in the hit Disney show affected the "Midnight Sky" singer growing up. The star was only 13 when she was cast on Hannah Montana, a role that soon shot her to superstardom.

"Really, Hannah Montana was not a character," she said in a new interview with Rolling Stone. "The concept of the show, it's me. I've had to really come to terms with that and not be third-person about it."

Cyrus added that she had to learn to distinguish herself from her character's alter ego, who has touched the lives of many of her fellow artists — particularly LGBTQ+ musicians.

"I had to evolve because Hannah was larger than life, larger than me," the singer said. "I felt like I was never going to amount to the success of Hannah Montana. That's how Lil Nas X actually knew of my dad [Billy Ray Cyrus]. He grew up watching Hannah Montana and said, 'I want to do a song with Robby Ray.'"

"That's literally what happened. Being a young queer kid's idol that could turn out to be a Lil Nas X and create a whole identity for themselves off being inspired from watching me growing up," Cyrus continued. "Or I hear artists like Troye Sivan say he felt more comfortable with his sexuality when I came out with 'My Heart Beats for Love.'"

Over the course of the interview, the 28-year-old also opened up about the struggles of her earlier days in Hollywood, noting, "A couple of years ago it looked like I was living some fairy tale. It really wasn't. At that time, my experimentation with drugs and booze and the circle of people around me was not fulfilling or sustainable or ever going to get me to my fullest potential and purpose."

Cyrus seems to be in a much better place in 2020, as she promotes her new album, Plastic Hearts. Although it wasn't always easy, the star has learned to take pride in how Hannah Montana impacted a generation of fans.

According to her, "When my peers are having these experiences and accepting themselves because of something that I demonstrated while they were a kid, that's when I go, 'S--t, I f--king am Hannah Montana."