The very thing that makes Miley Cyrus rich could quite easily make her poor.
Her teenage Lucille Ball goofiness as pop star alter ego Hannah Montana has seen the thoroughly Tennessee teen become an idol for tweens around the world. And, since tweens have the biggest spending power on the planet - well, next to dictators and bankers, of course - that means Miley Cyrus has become very, very rich, and very, very famous. At a very, very young age.
Of course, Miley's got her multi-untalented pop, Billy Ray (he of the mullet, Achy Breaky Heart and bad acting fame), to keep her feet at least a foot or two from the ground.
It's a move that makes for good business sense too, of course. Every now and then, one of these child sensations becomes an adult moneyspinner too.
That's why, having recently hit the ripe old age of 17, Miley's now keen on cultivating a long career - which means appealing to people beyond the acne army that helped make her a star in the first place.
Having recently announced the end of her Hannah Montana days, Cyrus takes that first step into the big, bad world of the teen market with The Last Song, another weepie from the author behind The Notebook. The reviews have not been good. And that's because the movie itself isn't good.
When I met up with Cyrus at LA's Four Seasons Hotel, those reviews were yet to be unleashed though.
PAUL BYRNE: So, is this really the end of Hannah Montana? A lot of young girls, and some older boys, are going to be very disappointed...
MILEY CYRUS: Its interesting to be doing press for this type of movie when, right now, on the Disney channel they're airing one of the last episodes of Season Three and now we're finishing up Season Four. So a new chapter is beginning while a chapter that's also been my life for the last five years is ending, so its interesting to kind of be leaving my security blanket behind but also its exciting for me by getting involved with this movie. It makes me want to do more films.
The season needed a complete ending for Season Three, and now we think our show deserves that too. You know, its such a huge big deal in so many kids' lives, they don't want to see re-runs forever - they want a really respectful ending and it really deserves that especially since its been such an amazing journey. It definitely had a beginning so it needs an end.
You say Hannah is history, but there's always the odd lucrative movie spin-off to consider...
No. Hannah Montana - and the wig [whistles] - is out! As soon as that last episode is over, one will be in a museum and one will be burned or something. Because I can't put it on again!
How long have you been planning this leap from the small screen to the big?
Before, I think, when we were planning when the transition would take place - when I would leave the TV show behind and when I would do something else - everyone was like, ‘Well, this is what we think we should do . . .' and finally I said; I mean I've gone these last five years of doing Hannah Montana with everyone telling me what to do, and now its kinda up to me, and what I think is right in my career and so now I'm just kinda steering my own direction.
I have to be careful in a sense to not lose who I am, and for people to lose their Miley Cyrus factor by going into other sectors, I still want them to know who I am but I just want to extend my audience and to continue to do what I love but just also give myself new challenges and not just play the same person over and over.
Your character in the movie talks about faith - something you believe in?
I think it means believing in yourself or believing in a higher being that's watching over you. It can be really anything but I think, again, its just having something to lean on and that's what she didn't have and I think the reason she was so sad before. You know, if you're living a lonely life, that's how you're gonna feel; and you're gonna feel like you can't accomplish anything and you're not good enough so I think its about having something to lean on which was whaling with her dad and finding new friendships. I think that's the biggest thing on what ‘faith' is - is just having someone to lean on.
You recently stopped your Twitter account. What happened there?
I was just kinda like tired of telling everyone what I was doing. I hate when I read things where celebrities are complaining like ‘I have no personal life'and I'm like ‘That's because you write everything that you're doing!' so I was that person who was like ‘I'm so sad, I have no real, normal life, everyone knows what I'm doing . . .' And I'm like ‘Well that's my fault because I'm telling everyone,' so then I'd tweet, ‘Well, I'm here!' and then wonder why there's a thousand fans outside of the restaurant, well ‘Hello! You just told them!' So I was just like kind of thinking, well that doesn't really make much sense and I'm kind of like - everything that I'm saying isn't really going with what I'm putting on the internet so, yeah, its kinda lame!
How is life without 24-hour attention treating you?
I'm a lot less on my phone. I'm a little bit more social. I have a lot more real friends than friends that are like on the internet that I'm talking to which is like not cool; not safe; not fun and most likely not real. And then before, I think everything is just better when you're not like so wrapped up in that. I just think its kinda lame and I feel like when I go hang out with my friends and they're just so busy taking pictures of what they're doing to put on Facebook that they're not really enjoying what they're doing, and you're gonna look back and have so many pictures but you're not in one of them because you weren't having fun; you were too busy clicking away, so I think just enjoy the moment that you're in and stop telling everyone about it; just enjoy it for yourself.
You're beginning to sound like every kid's mum....
Yes, I do! I'm telling kids, ‘Don't go on the internet; its dangerous; it's not fun; it wastes your life, and you should just be outside playing sports or something instead of being in front of any type of screen'!
As you start on that long road to an Oscar, you're obviously keen to keep on with music...
Right now I'm just finishing up my record. My record will be out in the summer and I'm really excited about that because, after doing this film, it was kinda like the test for me to decide what I really wanted to do and it was, I love making movies and that's what I want to kind of pursue and its not that I don't love music; I love music, if every film could have a part in music, I would but I feel like I need to get away from that for a little while and, again, its just another thing that's my security blanket and I don't want to always fall back on that, and I just feel like the music industry is so contrived and so political right now, I feel like if people stepped away and said, ‘We're not going to work like this, that its more about our art than the politics . . .'
I feel like maybe it would go back to being respected again and, right now, I just feel like its lost a lot of respect and I'd rather be in this industry that I feel like I can be different and do things that really inspire me.
Watch our previous video interview with Miley Cyrus here
Words - Paul Byrne
The Last Song is now showing at cinemas everywhere