Miley Cyrus has revealed she was initially under-paid on her hit Disney Channel series Hannah Montana because she did not know any better.
Cyrus was just 13 when she became a teen idol playing Miley Stewart, a seemingly ordinary girl who leads a double life as world-famous pop star Hannah Montana. The Disney franchise would go on to spawn a series of soundtrack albums, concert tours and even a hit film.
"I did not grow up spoiled in any way. I just wanted to be on TV. I mean, at one point - they'll probably kill me for saying it - I was probably the least paid person on my cast because I didn't know any better," the singer-actress told Elle. "I was just like, 'I can be on Disney! Yeah, I want to do it!'"
Cyrus also admitted that she was naive to appear as a character who shared her real-life first name on Hannah Montana, because it could have had repercussions on her future career.
"My name was Miley on my show, but I didn't own my name - we didn't think about that," she recalled. "Like, 'Yeah, you can use my name on your show, sure!' My mom started understanding how many people take advantage of a child, so she hired smart people to protect me in that way. I'm happy that when I was younger, people protected me and put me in a position where I can now control my music."
Cyrus is currently appearing as a judge on the US version of The Voice and starring in Woody Allen's Amazon Prime series Crisis In Six Scenes. Allen said last year that he cast Cyrus in the six-part comedy series after being impressed with her performance on Hannah Montana.
"I noticed years ago that my kids would be watching Hannah Montana. And I would say: "Who is that girl? She's got such a good delivery," the writer-director-actor explained. "You know, she snaps those lines off so well. The show is a silly little show, but she's very good at what she does."