Lucy Hale Reveals She Tried Out for ‘Hannah Montana’ Before Miley Cyrus and It Inspired Her to Pursue Acting

Lucy Hale is commonly known for being the unofficial leader of the show Pretty Little Liars. However, there was a chance she could have ended up starring in Disney’s Hannah Montana instead.

During her audition for the role that ultimately went to Miley Cyrus, the actress discovered her strong passion for pursuing a career in entertainment.

During an episode of BuzzFeed’s The Puppy Interview, Hale revealed some surprising roles she had auditioned for. These roles included Pitch Perfect, Hairspray, Hannah Montana, 50 Shades of Grey, and The Substance.

“Oh my gosh, so many,” Hale recalled. “I feel like, because I’ve lived in L.A. for almost 20 years, everyone who gets the role, it’s meant to be their thing. But for every ‘yes’ to an audition, there’s like a lineup of 200 ‘no’s. I should probably go back through my journals and see all the things I’ve auditioned for.”

When asked about her audition for the beloved children’s sitcom, which ran from 2006 to 2011 and made Miley Cyrus a household name, Hale confirmed she had tried out for the lead role. At the time, she was 14 years old and still living in her home state of Tennessee.

“It was a couple of years before they cast Miley,” she explained. “I remember the audition. It was a taped audition in Tennessee, and it was the one that made me want to be an actress. I remember it so clearly; it was really cool.”

Later in the interview, the F** Marry Kill star reminisced about her first acting gig in another iconic children’s sitcom: playing one of Drake’s dates on Nickelodeon’s Drake and Josh at the age of 15.

“I was super nervous,” she admitted. “In the scene, Drake [Bell]’s character asks, ‘What’s your name?’ And I say, ‘Hazel!’ And he replies, ‘Like the nut?’ And I go, ‘uh-huh!’ That was it. Groundbreaking. My career skyrocketed after that, so it’s all thanks to that moment,” she joked.