Moms & Babies - People.com » Hannah Montana

Billy Ray Cyrus on fatherhood and being outnumbered by girls

cbbauthor — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 06:38:22 +0000

Billy Ray Cyrus, 46, recently opened up to OK! about working with hisdaughter Miley, 14, on her hit show Hannah Montana and being dad to hislarge family that includes his and wife Leticia "Tish" Finley‘s otherchildren, son Braison, 13, and daughter Noah, 7; Billy’s sonChristopher Cody, 15, from a previous relationship; and Tish’s twochildren, Brandi, 20, and Trace, 18, from a previous relationship.

Click below for the highlights.

On being a good dad: "My definition of being a father is being a bestfriend; that’s what my dad was to me and that’s what I’ve tried to befor my kids. I’m really good at teaching them to ride motorcycles, sitby a campfire and roast marshmallows. I’m really good at opencommunication, whether they’ve got problems or just want to celebratethings they’re proud of. I’m a really good listener. I’m a little bitdifferent than the ‘normal dad.’ I try to use a little more psychology."

On working with Miley: "What Miley and I do on HannahMontana is almost exactly what we do with me being her daddy in reallife. I think one of the hooks of the show is the realism between Mileyand myself. We love it."

On his other children entering show business: "My little girl Noah hasdone several episodes of Hannah Montana. If she wants to be an actress,I think she’s got the chops to do it. She’s reptty much a littlenatural."

On music running in the family: "We all love music. It’s been in my family for years.Fortunately I inherited that ability to sit down and play music and sohave the kids."

On giving Miley advice: "My advice to Miley is to have fun, enjoy the ride,be happy and don’t let the business crap overshadow the fact of why youdo what you do. If you ain’t having fun, it’s not working. My dadalways said, ‘If you do what you love for a living, then you neverhave to work a day in your life.’"

On being there for Miley: "I’ll be there through thick and through thin; Iwant to be her best friend. I want to be the person she comes to forhelp when she makes that mistake. And trust me, it’s very possible thatI’m going to make a mistake and have to go tell her about it. You needfriends and people who love you."

On feeling outnumbered by girls: "No, no. Well, heck, I’m lying. Yeah, all the time!"

Source: OK! Magazine, October 15 issue, pg 32-33

The Rock dresses in drag for his daughter

cbbauthor — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:40:38 +0000

With one month to go until Halloween, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson‘sdaughter Simone Alexandra, 6, already has her costume picked out –she’s going to be a princess. As for her dad, he wanted to go as herPrince Charming, but Simone had other ideas, The Rock, 35, tells JayLeno on The Tonight Show.

I just did an episode of Hannah Montana and she said, ‘I want you todress up like you’re on Hannah Montana.’ And I said, ‘Well, there’s aproblem — daddy is in what we call drag. Daddy can’t do that.’

Teased by Jay that he would be disappointing his daughter if he didn’t, the Game Plan star agrees.

I know. I have to go. I have to go in drag.

Miley Cyrus' home life

cbbauthor — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 18:45:12 +0000

Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus, 14, is the newest teen phenom,but her parents, Billy Ray and Leticia ("Tish"), are making sure thefame and success won’t go to her head. More than aware of the harshside effects of stardom, Billy Ray and Tish are trying to keep theirdaughter as grounded as possible, they tell People magazine in itslatest cover story, often using the troubles of Lindsay Lohan, BritneySpears and Paris Hilton as cautionary tales. Says Tish:

I’m like, ‘Paris is in jail, Miley! It’s so scary as a mom tosee all these kids who are so whacked now. I don’t want to be too muchand have her rebel. Not that we think she’s going to do that, but Mileydoes have a very explosive personality, which scares me a little.

So far, though, Miley’s still the same little girl they know and love, Billy Ray says.

The biggest phenomenon in all this is that the kid’s been able tokeep her head on her shoulders. She hasn’t flipped out. I’m going toknock on wood. I pray every day she can stay on that path.

Click below for the rest of the interview (including Miley’s monthly allowance and why she can’t use credit cards) and more photos!

At home, Miley maintains as much of a normal life as she can. Shestill has her share of chores to do around the house, which includesloading the dishwasher every night, and she’s not exempt frompunishment either – computer privileges are revoked when she’sgrounded. She still gets allowance ($300 per month) and doesn’t haveany credit cards, especially after purchasing a Prada bag withoutasking her parents.

On Sundays, she attends church with the rest of her family, whichincludes, brother Braison, 13, and sister Noah, 7, Tish’s children froma previous relationship, Brandi, 20, Trace, 18 – whom Billy Ray adopted- and Christopher Cody, 15, Billy Ray’s son from a previousrelationship. But knowing how stressful her life can be, her parentshave given Miley a private section of their new L.A. home where she can"chill out" if Miley promises to live at home until she’s 20.

While many teenagers can’t wait to move out, Miley doesn’tanticipate that to be true for herself any time soon as she thesinger/actress is just too close to her family, especially dad, who is"best friends" with all of his kids.

We’re really close. I feel like I can tell my dad anything. Whenwe come home, we forget that we even work together and just hang out.

Speaking of work, Billy Ray normally wakes Miley up at 7:15 with acup of Ovaltine before driving to the Hannah Montanaset for their 8:30call time, but one day, Billy Ray was nowhere to be found in the house.Miley called him, who was surprised to learn she wasn’t with Tish. Heinsists he didn’t forget her, but just thought she hitched a ride withmom. When Miley threatened to make him "look like an idiot" in front ofthe cast and crew, Billy Ray responded with,

Well, I don’t need your help!

Source: People, July 2 issue, pg 72-76

Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus are "best friends"

cbbauthor — Wed, 02 May 2007 18:05:28 +0000

Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus admits she first had reservations ofher father Billy Ray playing her dad on the show, but now shewouldn’t have it any other way. The 14-year-old says it feels natural to play father and daughter and loves working with him.

[At first] I was like, ‘Oh, great.This is going to be really, really weird.’ Now when we get in fights,I’m just stuck with him at work. But after like two weeks, it felt likehow it was supposed to be. I don’t think anything could have beeneasier on us because it makes our jobs really natural. I love beingwith my dad. He’s my best friend. I hate when I hear cheesy answersfrom people, but seriously, it’s not, like, a fake thing.

Miley loves working with Billy Ray so much that all she does is talk about him, which grates her friends at times.

All my friends are always about to smack me because all I do is talk about my dad.

She has every reason to be a proud daughter as Billy Ray competes on Dancing with the Stars, which Miley attends every week.

I love bringing my friends to the show so I can show off my daddy a little bit.

Source: Boston Herald

Camryn Manheim's an "Amazon woman" when it comes to her son

cbbauthor — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 08:55:11 +0000

After The Practice went off the air in 2004, Camryn Manheim had more downtime with her son Milo Jacob, now 6, and while she returned to television this season in The Ghost Whisperer, Milo remains her number one priority.

When she’s not on set, her world revolves around her little boy. The single mom teaches sign language at Milo’s school and makes sure she’s home for Shabbat on Fridays and in the stands on Saturdays for his basketball games.

Before I had Milo, I felt I was somewhat of a narcissist. I was consumed with myself all the time and it was exhausting. One of the wonderful things about being a mother is somebody else is more important than you.

Camryn would do anything for Milo, such as guest starring on his favorite show.

I need some street cred with the kid. I called the Hannah Montana people for tickets; they asked, ‘Would you do the show?’ What I wouldn’t do for my son.

That includes getting a head start on those college applications. Even though he’s only in kindergarten, the actress wants a bright future for Milo and has high hopes – and hoops – for him.

He is in basketball so he can get into college. My nephew had a 1575 on the SATs but had trouble getting in. He did not get into all of them because he didn’t play a sport.

Her duties as a mother are a "burden and a relief at the same time," Camryn says, but it’s only made her realize what she’s capable of and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

I have learned I am fierce when it comes to my son. The Amazon woman I am, you don’t want to mess with me. I didn’t know I had this. I know that I have incredible power and ferocity – I have learned that. I have learned I am a really great problem solver and alert and aware. I am incredibly prepared because I feel this great responsibility to take care of this precious, precious thing.

Source: Jamaica Gleaner News

Have you realized you’re more capable than you thought you were since having children?