Miley Cyrus sits down to talk about her new song in ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash,' and she opens up about her engagement with Maxx Morando, why she prefers more intimate shows when performing, 20 years of Hannah Montana, touring with Beyonce, Britney Spears and more!
00:00Everybody talking about the ring. The engagement. So am I saying congratulations?
00:04You are saying congratulations. If we're torn between Britney and Beyonce, we're doing pretty good.
00:08I don't know if there is a new Hannah. This is the only Hannah.
00:17Hey Miley, how's it going? Good, thanks for being here.
00:20Of course, I gotta start by addressing the elephant in the room, okay?
00:23I was getting notifications on the way here. Everybody talking about the ring.
00:27The engagement. So am I saying congratulations? You are saying congratulations to me.
00:31Congratulations. How are you feeling? Thank you so much.
00:33You know what? It's the perfect timing, especially sitting here today speaking about the film's theme and avatar
00:42when it's really about love, resilience, building from the ground up.
00:46And it's just totally, perfectly aligned and in sync with my personal life.
00:50And I think that's when I kind of find the, what really excites me creatively is when something that's affecting me,
00:58you know, kind of on that human, more quiet level gets to be infused into something like avatar.
01:05I can see like a small piece of myself in something so large scale.
01:08Oh, I love that. That's beautiful.
01:10And I already feel like a little bestie over here.
01:12I'm being like, girl, are we thinking long engagement, big wedding?
01:14Have you even thought of any of this stuff yet?
01:15Well, you know, I've been kind of in this avatar world right now.
01:20And now with the holidays coming up, I'll have a little bit more time to think about it.
01:24But, you know, my instinct is always to enjoy every moment for as long as you possibly can.
01:30And then when that starts kind of, you know, you feel that you've felt the full excitement of what that can be.
01:36Then you get to try something else.
01:38But I've never been someone that's just needing kind of the next thing and the next thing, the next thing.
01:41I've tried to enjoy.
01:43Love that. I'll try to take some of that advice myself.
01:45Yeah.
01:46And let's talk about the film.
01:47I mean, it's such an emotional rollercoaster of a film.
01:49So how was it to create a song that people are kind of like listening to as they're processing the end of the movie
01:54and walking out of the theater as they're hearing your voice?
01:56Yeah.
01:57So, you know, last night was the first time as I was at the premiere getting to hear the song,
02:02not only in a full, the film, and it's kind of full fantasy.
02:07Because I saw it in all different stages of it kind of growing and not fully done.
02:12And so now seeing it with other people and watching them go through the journey of Fire and Ash and hearing the song.
02:18I really fell in love with the song more deeply after watching the film with other people.
02:25Because always community and watching people feel the same emotion all together.
02:30It's always, again, the most kind of inspiring and fulfilling.
02:33You can see it kind of touching people's hearts in a different way than you can when you're so close to it in the writing process.
02:41It's such an individualized and kind of, you know, internal songwriting process for me.
02:48But then when it becomes external and everyone's sharing it together, that's what makes me really proud.
02:54I love that.
02:55And you said how, like, it was personal for you.
02:56It's following your story.
02:57So is there a character that you kind of, like, connect it to when you watch the film?
03:02Because I love Spider.
03:03I was, like, obsessed with his plot in this way.
03:04Totally.
03:05Well, I think for me, I can see myself kind of a little bit in everyone.
03:10And that kind of tug of war between kind of the good side of ourselves and the bad side.
03:17And where a lot of our kind of darkest parts of ourselves usually come from sorts of trauma.
03:23Which I can't give too much away, but that's a big part of the film is not looking at, you know, bad is bad.
03:29But looking at it is what happened.
03:31What kind of hardened your heart in that way?
03:34And so I can see myself in kind of everyone.
03:38And I also kind of love, you know, nature is such an important part of my life.
03:43Growing up in Nashville, growing up on the farm.
03:45And being every day for me was spent around animals and kind of feeling my feet in the grass.
03:50And so I really kind of relate to the world of Pandora in general.
03:55Nice.
03:55And I want to talk about some things Miley related.
03:57So, of course, something everybody, your fans included, have been discussing is your thoughts on touring.
04:02And when I was thinking about it the other day, I was like, well, would you ever just consider setting up shop somewhere?
04:07Like the sphere.
04:08You know me.
04:09I love to set up shop.
04:10My favorite thing to do is to perform in the lobbies of hotels because then I just go out to my room.
04:14And people don't believe me, but that actually happens.
04:16The part that I don't like is the, you're getting in the car, you're going underground, you're walking through.
04:22By the way, the backstage of a venue is nothing like what the audience experiences.
04:27Never is.
04:28There's a locker room.
04:29I'm not getting ready in the locker room.
04:31So I like when there's a suite upstairs.
04:34I walk down to the lobby, you go to the piano, and then I get in the elevator and I go back upstairs.
04:38So that's kind of my favorite thing.
04:40And I think for me, the thing that doesn't really kind of, I have to have a heart on fire feeling for anything that I do.
04:47And I don't love the scale of when it's such large scale, so many thousands of people, you lose that kind of one-on-one, more intimate connection.
04:57And I've always kind of challenged the thought that the stage is also above everyone because I like to be in it with everybody.
05:04I actually tried to redo when I was on a tour of 98 Dates.
05:09I wanted all the stages to be lowered so I could be with everybody.
05:13And so these shows that I'm doing now that are more intimate, I just get such a more fulfilled feeling when I'm in that elevator going back up to the suite.
05:21Because everybody, I've gotten to see people laugh and look me in the eye.
05:25And there's just, sometimes I get into these bits with people, strangers, that all of a sudden we just have a connection or a chemistry and they become kind of a part of the show.
05:34And it's just, it's something, there's something a little old school about it too that feels like you never know what's going to happen.
05:41It's, in the intimate setting, it's kind of more confrontational.
05:44Yeah.
05:45I mean, listen, I'm signing up for the Miley Cyrus lobby tour.
05:47Hotel lobby.
05:48Hotel lobby tour.
05:49I'm here for it.
05:50And I don't know if you've talked about this lately, but I loved seeing you on stage on tour with Beyonce.
05:55That was crazy.
05:55Me too.
05:56To see you guys perform that.
05:56It ain't going to be in the hotel lobby, it needs to be in Paris with me.
05:59Like, what?
06:00How was that?
06:01Like, watching it was incredible.
06:03That was everything.
06:04And what I realized was, when we talk about the heart on fire feeling, she has that for touring, for performing.
06:11She loves it.
06:12I couldn't believe how many times she was willing to rehearse it with me because she's on the tour.
06:17So she's already got it down.
06:18But I obviously, I wanted to rehearse, soundcheck.
06:20I wasn't used to the scale of her stage that she's doing every night.
06:24And she just wanted to keep doing it with me.
06:26And never did I see her not having joy on her face of putting the show together.
06:33It actually gives me chills.
06:34And she's just, like, so fab.
06:36She's everything you'd want her to be in person.
06:38And she is the true meaning of a professional, kind to everyone, saying hello to all my crew, all of hers,
06:46and then doing the sickest show you've ever seen.
06:48Love it.
06:49Queen on the queen action.
06:49Yeah, love her.
06:50And I want to ask you, I mean, after asking that question, I don't know if this is okay.
06:53But what would you say?
06:54You've done so many amazing collaborations.
06:56What is your, like, top favorite collaboration?
06:58I have one in my head.
06:59I'm hoping.
07:00Okay, I want to hear yours.
07:01What?
07:01No, what's yours?
07:02You've got to go first.
07:03My top favorite collaboration, honestly, I am going to say Beyonce because I just feel like I could have gone home after that.
07:07All right, I mean, true, true.
07:08Like, just go home.
07:09All right, I was going to say catwalks.
07:11Oh, man, we were talking about that this morning.
07:13Okay, you're right.
07:14Listen, if we're torn between Britney and Beyonce, we're doing pretty good.
07:18Killing it.
07:19Yeah, we've been talking about my book titles.
07:20That's a good one, too.
07:21From Britney to Beyonce.
07:24Oh, wow.
07:25Done.
07:25Done.
07:26Everybody's buying it.
07:27Sign.
07:27New York Times bestsellers.
07:29That's what I'm saying.
07:30Amen to that.
07:31And then, of course, I wanted to also talk to you about, you know, 20 years of Hannah Montana's coming up.
07:36Yeah.
07:36So I heard you already dropped some hints that you might be doing some stuff.
07:40What would you want to give to fans?
07:41Like, where do you see the celebration going?
07:44For me, I love looking back at the growth between both of us because it's very rare that someone grows up with their fan base.
07:51That now when I used to look out and I was 15 years old and I'd look out and see 15-year-olds and now I'm looking out as a grown woman, I look out and see other grown people.
08:01And so what I want to do is really kind of honor just the longevity of the relationship that we built.
08:07Because it's Hannah Montana, it outgrew the kind of fantasy.
08:12It became the reality of my life and something that was just about, you know, kind of a regular girl getting to have this extraordinary life by being almost someone that she's not and then turning my life into having this life because of being who I really am and authenticity.
08:27So getting to kind of celebrate that, just, girl, 20 years is like a long time.
08:33It's wild.
08:34Especially some of these kids in Avatar, yesterday they came in and, you know, some of the cast were saying, we love you, but we only know Miley because we were born in 2006.
08:43And that's when the show came out.
08:45And that was a whole thing.
08:46That is the thing.
08:47They were like, but we've seen reruns on Disney+.
08:49I'm like, oh, shit, you were born the year that I was like, this show came out.
08:54So, yeah, so it's cool to be able to be a part of this Disney legacy now, standing with someone like James Cameron that's kind of been with Disney as long as I have.
09:04And then also getting to kind of celebrate where Hannah was and how she got me to where I am.
09:08And you mentioned Disney+.
09:10I think about, like, how High School Musical kind of had, like, its resurgence when they redid a series.
09:14Yeah.
09:14If they were able to, like, reboot Hannah Montana, redo it, what would that look like?
09:18Would you want to be involved or would you, like, they need to cast a new Hannah?
09:22I don't know if there is a new Hannah.
09:23Ooh.
09:24There's the only Hannah.
09:25That's what I'm talking about right there.
09:26Uh-huh.
09:26I love that.
09:27I love that.
09:28And then something else you said on the carpet that I thought was really interesting.
09:30You talked about party in the USA and how you don't feel like there's a party in the USA right now.
09:34Love that.
09:35Stealing that.
09:35Uh-huh.
09:36But if there was to be a moment, I wanted to ask you, like, with the Britney reference in there and the Jay-Z, if you had to give that to two different people to celebrate right now, what would you change it to?
09:46OMG.
09:46That is such a good question.
09:48That's really good.
09:51What are we saying?
09:53It's so, like, Britney and Jay-Z, like, that was so perfect for that.
09:59I couldn't even imagine it being someone else.
10:02I mean, I'm not taking Britney out.
10:04Okay.
10:05Listen, I stand by that.
10:06You know I stand by that.
10:06And B's going to come for me if I take Jay-Z out.
10:08So they get to be, but honestly, my music now has, like, it's grown, like, so much.
10:14It's become so kind of eclectic that I feel like those are the perfect ones for Party in the USA.
10:20Okay.
10:21And then I feel like you've had an incredible career.
10:23Like, one of my favorite moments was watching you at the Grammys with Mariah Carey.
10:26Uh, hello.
10:27And, like, I was watching you react to the moment.
10:30And I was like, this is incredible.
10:31So when you think about your career, what do you want to accomplish now?
10:35Like, where do you go next from Avatar?
10:37All these things.
10:38Listen, okay, speaking of Mariah, she came in, gave me that award, and got in the car and left.
10:41She didn't even sit down.
10:42That's the, that's what I aspire to be, okay?
10:45You walk in, you wear your gorgeous gown, you say hello, I'm Mariah Carey, you'll never forget, and then that's that.
10:53So I love that kind of, she has, like, a legendary confidence where she knows, like, she is MC.
10:59And so I think what I love about those women is that they just make really good choices of when they show up.
11:04And I think that it's more about focusing on what you don't do than what you do sometimes.
11:09I'm not afraid, I've said this a lot, of not being busy.
11:13What I want to be is purposeful, meaningful, thoughtful.
11:16I want everything that I create to be able to stand behind.
11:19And that just comes from, you know, I talk about trial and error a lot, trying on a lot of different personas.
11:24And someone like Mariah has been so consistent.
11:26That's something that I really respect about her is I feel like she's always kind of been very clear on who she is musically, sonically, her look.
11:34There's been such an iconic consistency to her.
11:38And now that I'm starting to find kind of my pocket of what I feel really suits me and is really authentic to me, just choosing things that are only aligned with that.
11:46And if they're not, then they're a no.
11:48Done.
11:48It's a no-no.
11:50It's a no-no.
11:51It's a no-no.
11:52A no-no.
11:53It's a no-no.
11:54Oh, obsessed.
11:54Well, I'm going to say you should call Jay-Z.
11:56Let's make a Hannah Montana Super Bowl moment.
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