Hannah Montana casting director reveals the two stars who almost beat Miley Cyrus to iconic role-Alistair McGeorge-Entertainment – Metro

Miley Cyrus beat Daniella Monet and Taylor Momsen to the role (Picture: Getty / Rex)

Miley Cyrus shot to fame as pop star Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel, but there were two other names close to landing the role.

The show – which ran from 2006 to 2011 – was a launching pad for her career as she played the fictional Best of Both Worlds hitmaker and her alter ego Miley Stewart, while her real father Billy Ray Cyrus was cast as her on-screen dad Bobby Ray.

Now, the programme’s casting director Lisa London has weighed in on the other stars who were in with a shot of playing the character, particularly after a TikRTok rumour singer Belinda almost got cast.

Responding on the social media platform, she said: ‘I’m actually the original casting director on Hannah Montana, and I discovered Miley Cyrus.

‘I wanted to let everyone know that Belinda, who is lovely by the way, was never in the top three for the role of Hannah.’

Thankfully, Lisa didn’t leave us in the dark and she showed a photo of a piece of paper dated May 6, 2005 featuring Miley’s name alongside Taylor Momsen and Daniella Monet.

Hannah Montana hit the small screen 16 years ago (Picture: Disney/ LA Pictures1)

The show launched Miley Cyrus’ career (Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images)

She added: ‘These were the final three actresses the network test out of over 1,200 girls.’

In an interesting twist, the sheet also shows that the lead role had a different name early on before Miley took on the role, as Lisa explained: ‘This was when her name was originally Chloe Stewart before they changed it to Miley Stewart.’

Taylor Momsen was in the running (Picture: A J Sokalner/Rex)

Daniella Monet was also close to landing the role (Picture: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic)

Taylor and Daniella may have missed out that time, but they’ve certainly done alright for themselves.

After playing Cindi Lou-Who in The Grinch, Taylor rose to fame as Jenny Humphrey in Gossip Girl and went onto front rock band The Pretty Reckless, while Daniella appeared as Trina Vega in Nickelodeon’s Victorious.

Back in March, Miley celebrated her 16th ‘Hannah-versary’ since the show went on air, and it’s clear it still holds a special place in her heart.

She tweeted at the time: ‘Happy 16th Hannah-versary! 16 years ago my life changed forever when HM premiered.

‘Because of your loyalty and support I’ve had the honor to travel the world for over a decade and perform for fans that bring so much greatness into my life.’

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