Her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, said the connection to home, family, and faith, is important to real-life Miley, too. "She loves acting. She loves singing. She loves writing songs. I think part of it is staying real and remembering who she is and where she comes from and what it's all about. Never forget where you come from. That's the theme of this movie. Going back to your roots and remembering why you're here."

The fact that the movie is set largely in Tennessee gave Miley a chance to spend some time in her home state, just like her character. "I wish I had more time to visit," she said, adding that she'd like to have a quiet house there some day.

So how much of Miley on-screen is like Miley in real life? "The thing about Miley," said Jason Earles who plays Miley Stewart's brother Jackson, "Is that she basically doesn't have a filter. You know exactly where you stand with her. And there's something very charming about that."

The international sensation, who recently turned 16, has had a few broadly publicized mini-scandals. Some provocative pictures of her were leaked online. She's rumored to be dating a 20-year-old male model. Last summer, she participated in a Vanity Fair photo shoot with Anne Leibowitz in which she appears to be unclothed, her back bare and a sheet covering her front. Miley called the photos "embarrassing" while her camp accused Leibowitz of taking advantage of a fifteen-year-old girl to sell magazines. 

Raising a child in the Christian faith in Hollywood isn't easy, said Billy Ray Cyrus, "So you can imagine being Miley right now, let alone me. You just gotta know what the dark side wouldn't give to put out that light and that positive hope and love and bring down anyone. Miley gets up and wins an award and thanks Jesus, because it's who she is and what she believes. … Can you imagine how much joy it would bring the devil to see Miley just do something really stupid and all these kids around the world that she's represented such a positive force to just taint it with something stupid and ruin it?"

As might be expected, music plays a large part in the movie. Miley performs several numbers, including the famous opening theme, and a foot-stomping rendition of "Hoedown Throwdown." In addition, Rascal Flatts performs with Billy Ray in a warm down-home music jam on the farmhouse porch. Taylor Swift performs her single "Crazier" and co-wrote "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home." Together, Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus perform a bittersweet duet about growing up, "Butterfly Fly Away." And Miley sums up the stay true to your roots theme of the movie with the ballad "Climb." The soundtrack for the movie includes all of these songs. In addition,  Billy Ray Cyrus just released another album, Back to Tennessee.

As to whether Miley Cyrus will be more Tennessee or Hollywood, we'll have to wait and see.


Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures.

Walt Disney Pictures' Hannah Montana:  The Movie opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, April 10, 2009.  Please visit the Hannah Montana The Movie site for more information.

**This article first published on April 9, 2009.