Hannah Montana

Mitchel Musso is certainly one busy teen.  The Hannah Montana star may not get a lot of down time but he doesn't seem to mind.  He recently wrapped filming on his new Disney Channel Original Movie, Hatching Pete, and is focusing on shooting Hannah Montana: The Movie, in Tennessee.  He lends his voice to the Disney Channel animated show, Phineas and Ferb, and has been focusing on his music career as well.  The actor, who turns 17 in a few weeks, sat down with BuddyTV in an exclusive interview to talk about his latest project, appearing on the Disney Mania album, now in stores. 

Below, you will find the complete transcript and mp3 of the interview.

Hey everybody this is Gina from BuddyTV and today, I’m talking to Mitchel Musso from Hannah Montana. When I told this group of kids that I know that I was interviewing you they freaked out, they started screaming their heads off. You must have a really loyal fan base.

I do. Lots of fans, they're great. I work on a very, very cool show. So, I appreciate it.


Do you get to get out and meet your fans a lot?

I do, I actually go do a lot of autograph signings and all sorts of stuff like that all the time. And I’ve actually recently been on a tour, and after a show I usually try to do an hour or so of autographs before I have to run to the airport.


How long have you been singing? Is that something you’ve been doing since you were a kid?

It’s been something that I’ve been doing all my life, doing like musical theater and stuff like that, but I never really wanted to go into singing. My family is so amazing, my mom and my dad are absolutely amazing, they’ve been in musical theater for 25 years. And of course my brother, who is in Metro Station, their song “Shake It” just went gold the other day. I think I never really wanted to consider myself with them. Now that he's on the road and stuff, it's just kind of me at home, I'm like, you know, I kind of wanted to try it. That's pretty much what this past year and a half or so has really been devoted to.


It seems like everybody who's on the Disney Channel can sing and dance and act. Is that something that they're looking for when they cast you or Emily or whoever on Hannah Montana? Do they want you to do more than just act?

I don't think that's it. I think the whole thing is that we kind of just decide to do it. Our whole thing on Disney is be what you want to be. If you get a chance to be an actor, be an actor. If you get chance to be a singer, be a singer. If you get a chance to do both, then do both, you know what I mean? You can do everything. So, I think that's more of what we're shooting for than everybody can sing and dance and act.


You're on the new Disney Mania soundtrack, so tell me how did you end up being part of this one, Disney Mania 6, and did you have any say in choosing the song that you sing?

I didn't have any say, but I would never have complained because I really, really like the song. There's kind of a bridge in there that's like [sings melody], and I actually wrote that for it. It's kind of like a little melody. In the studio there was nothing there so it's like, let me do something with it, and it actually got saved in the song, which is very, very cool.


There's so many big stars on the album. Do you have a favorite song besides your own that's on it?

I don't know. I love "If I Didn't Have You" and that's not just because of me, it's because of Emily, too. We worked so hard on it and also there was a music video, so it was so cool. We're actually number one on the album, which is so cool.


What are your plans musically now? Will you still get out and perform on the road?

I do, I've been going to tour dates. I've been doing lots and lots of tour dates, as many as I can while I'm in the middle of shooting Hannah Montana and Phineas and Ferb and everything else.


We heard that for the 2008 – 2009 season on Disney that you'll be in a Disney Channel original movie, Hatching Pete.

Yeah, I actually just finished shooting Hatching Pete. I also have a song in Hatching Pete, which is very, very cool.


Awesome. When can we expect that movie to come out?

That movie will come out . . . You know what, I'm not completely positive, but the last I heard not until '09. Not for awhile.


Has shooting begun for the next season of Hannah Montana?

You know what, supposedly we're going to start up in like September or something like that, but with everything that's going on right now with the movie and the music I don't want to say anything that's not true, so I'm not sure.


You're just always busy. Do you get any downtime at all?

Yeah, I get downtime in a sense. I'll get a day or two. But I have no complaints, I love working and I love flying places. I actually have to fly to Tennessee in three hours.


It seems like the cast of High School Musical is starting to branch out from doing just Disney movies. Do you have any plans to do anything outside of the Disney realm?

Absolutely. That's how I started off, I started off with big screen movies with Secondhand Lions and I actually got to star in a Steven Spielberg movie, Monster House. That's where everything started, it just happens that I got put on Hannah Montana. Hannah Montana was the biggest show, so I'm very proud of that and I love everybody that I work with. As long as that goes, I'm happy. If movies happen I'm happy, if music happens I'm happy. Just anything in the entertainment world, it's just kind of my life, this is what I've always done and this is what I'm kind of good at doing.


Thank you so much, Mitchel. Disney Mania is in stores now, and good luck with filming the Hannah Montana movie.

Thank you so much, that's very sweet of you.

- Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of Disney)