In what may be surprising news to some, while chatting with The Hollywood Reporter, four-time Oscar-winning director Woody Allen explained he hired Miley Cyrus at least in part because of Hannah Montana. While discussing some of his upcoming projects, Allen opened up about why he chose to cast Cyrus in his TV series for Amazon. The currently untitled limited-run comedy set in the late 1960s is six half-hour episodes, per Allen, which will star himself, Elaine May (writer of The Birdcage), and Cyrus. And Allen has his two daughters with his wife, Soon-Yi Previn, to thank for watching Disney's Hannah Montana and introducing him to the 23-year-old singer/actor.
"I met her for this project," he told THR about first meeting Cyrus. He added,
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. 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." And then she emerged as a singer, and someone showed me a little clip of hers from Saturday Night Live, and I said, "It confirms what I always thought about her: She is very good, she is really a talented girl." She wanted to take some time off, but she [agreed to do the series] because the role interested her. So I met her right here.
It's surprising to hear that he actually paid attention to the Disney Channel hit because, for those unaware, Allen isn't really big on TV, nor does he watch a lot, save for sporting events. "I don't watch them," the 80-year-old director told The Hollywood Reporter of Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and other recent great TV series. "I'm not home. I don't have the incentive. I'm out having dinner with friends, and when I come home, I'm tired and I want to quickly see the last quarter of the Knick game or the last couple of innings of the Yankee game or the Mets game. I'm just not interested enough."
That sure is an interesting thing to say, especially since he's creating a TV series that will stream on Amazon. He also said that he doesn't own a computer or ever use one. As I'm sure you can imagine, there are many who have their own opinions about Allen's lack of technology, but people have especially been speaking out about him casting Cyrus thanks to her work on Hannah Montana:
And that's just a handful of what many individuals are tweeting about Allen watching Hannah Montana. Yeah, they definitely aren't holding back on their opinions, but is it really that surprising? Whether it's regarding his personal life or his career, Allen is no stranger to criticism and controversy.
