Miley Cyrus just revealed how Taylor Swift found her way into the Hannah Montana: The Movie cast back in 2009.
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In Disney+‘s new Hannah Montana 20th-anniversary special, which premiered Tuesday (March 24), the star of the show looked back on all things Hannah, including a memorable cameo made by a future 14-time Grammy winner in the franchise’s first and only film. Swift appears during the barn-party sequence in Miley’s fictional Tennessee hometown, Crowley Corners, midway through the movie to sing her track “Crazier” as Miley slow-dances with her love interest, played by Lucas Till.
“Get the tea kettle,” Cyrus said when Call Her Daddy‘s Alex Cooper, who served as the interviewer for the special, asked how Swift had been cast. “So the way that Taylor Swift ended up in the Hannah Montana movie was because this was kind of the beginning of her career, and they were looking for someone that would authentically — no shade, I guess — be performing in a barn.”
“We both performed in the barn,” she added. “And so she came into the performance.”
The barn scene was also the setting for Miley to perform the iconic “Hoedown Throwdown” number. Later, at the very end of Hannah Montana: The Movie, Miley/Hannah sings “You’ll Always Find your Way Back Home” — which just so happened to be penned by Swift for the movie.
During the special, Cyrus had nothing but praise for Swift’s contribution to the soundtrack. “Credit where credit’s due. Banger,” she said of the track, which reached No. 81 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Stands the test of time. She ate with that one.”
Though Swift didn’t make an appearance in the anniversary special, it was a star-studded affair nevertheless. Selena Gomez and Chappell Roan both made cameos, while Cyrus performed some of Hannah’s most beloved songs — including “This Is the Life,” the first number she ever performed in that famous blonde wig — and revisited recreations of the TV show’s sets.
In a recent interview with Variety, Cyrus explained why she thought it was essential to mark the 20th anniversary of the series that made her a superstar. “It’s not just a TV show,” she told the publication. “I see daily how important Hannah is to people. When I travel, people bring me ‘Hannah’ merch. They ask, ‘Are you ever going to do another season?’”
