5 Stars Auditioned for Hannah Montana Before Miley Cyrus (& We Know the Top Choices!)

Belinda

Mexican pop star and actress Belinda made her Disney Channel debut in 2006′s The Cheetah Girls 2. That’s the same year that Hannah Montana began airing. Over the years, there have been rumors that the actress and singer was in the running for Miley‘s part.

In a video on TikTok in 2022, casting director Lisa London responded to the rumors about Belinda, revealing that she was never “almost cast as Hannah Montana.”

However, it does appear that auditioned for the part as Lisa described her as “lovely.”

Aly Michalka

In 2006, Aly Michalka was already a regular on the Disney Channel’s hit show Phil of the Future. She and her sister AJ starred in Disney’s original movie Cow Belles the year Hannah Montana debuted.

After Lisa Scott debunked the rumor about Belinda, AJ took to Twitter to reveal that both she and Ally were offered roles in Hannah Montana.

“Gary Marsh [president of the Disney Channel] originally offered the role of ‘Hannah Montana’ to Aly and I was offered the role of ‘Lilly Truscott’ (I know this so doesn’t matter but thought I’d chime in),” she tweeted.

If you forgot, Emily Osment played Lilly, Hannah’s best friend.

Aly also addressed the offer while on the Between Cut and Action podcast in 2021.

“I at least know that I was the first [person offered the role] because I was attached to a show that was already on the channel and was just ending,” she recalled, via E News. “I remember being so sure about saying no. I was just like, ‘I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to do a show about singing. I don’t want to do a show where I play two people … I’m a solo artist, but in my real life I’m actually a duo with my sister. I think this is going to be insanely confusing for people.’”