Mitchel Musso Says It Was 'Impossible' to Work on Projects Outside of Disney Channel While “Hannah Montana ”Was Airing

Tereza ShkurtajSun, June 28, 2026 at 2:59 PM UTC

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Mitchel Musso in 2018Credit: Michael Bezjian/Getty -

Mitchell Musso recently reflected on the opportunities he had to pass up while under contract with Disney during the height of Hannah Montana's success

Even so, the 34-year-old said the friendships he built with Miley Cyrus and Emily Osment became the most rewarding part of the experience

Musso also admitted that, despite starring on one of Disney Channel's biggest series, he rarely watched Hannah Montana because he never liked seeing himself on screen

For millions of Disney Channel viewers, Mitchel Musso was the lovable Oliver Oken, one of Miley Stewart's closest friends, on Hannah Montana.

While the hit series turned its young cast into household names, it also came with commitments that shaped the direction of their careers behind the scenes.

On June 24, Musso made his first-ever podcast appearance on The Joe Vulpis Podcast, where he opened up after spending nearly a decade away from Hollywood. Reflecting on the height of Disney Channel's biggest era, he explained that success also meant sacrificing opportunities outside the network.

“I don't know if you could have done anything bigger than Hannah [Montana] when Hannah was on, right? That was bigger than life,” the 34-year-old told Vulpis. “So, I'm sure there were things that were offered to my agency, but it was impossible to do it because we were so locked in with Disney. If it wasn't a DCOM — a Disney Channel Original Movie — then…we couldn't do it.”

Mitchel Musso, Miley Cyrus, and Emily Osment on 'Hannah Montana.'Credit: DISNEY CHANNEL/BYRON COHEN

Among the projects Musso revealed he had to pass on was the chance to voice Aang in Avatar: The Last Airbender, a role he said he couldn't accept because of his strict Disney commitments.

Looking back now, however, there is no bitterness attached to that chapter. Instead, he spoke warmly about the experience of helping bring one of Disney Channel's defining sitcoms to life alongside Miley Cyrus and Emily Osment.

When asked what he cherished most about his years on Hannah Montana, Musso made it clear that the friendships forged on set mattered far more than the work itself.

“It was the cast,” he emphasized. “Like this is our middle school, high school, college. This was our [formative years]. We graduated a class of three. It was just me, Miley, and Emily, right? So, it was everything to us.”

If they weren't on set, Musso recalled spending time together snowboarding or just hanging out in Tennessee.

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“We just never wanted to be apart… We had so many inside jokes. It was our little, our click, you know, us three. And everybody, everybody's included in that, but specifically us three because we were all around the same age.”

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Miley Cyrus, Mitchel Musso, and Emily Osment on 'Hannah Montana.'Credit: Joel Warren/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

The series, which followed Miley as she balanced life as an ordinary teenager and global pop star Hannah Montana, became a defining part of Disney Channel's 2000s lineup. Although Musso was there through the show's biggest moments, he admitted he rarely watched the teen comedy himself.

Instead, Musso told Vulpis that he gravitated toward other Disney Channel favorites, including The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and That's So Raven, along with animated Nickelodeon staples like SpongeBob SquarePants.

“I watched a lot of all of it except for Hannah,” he revealed. “I would watch Phineas [and Ferb], when we did Phineas.”

When asked if that was because he preferred projects where he didn't have to see himself on screen, Musso didn't hesitate to agree, explaining that watching playback has always made him uncomfortable.

“Maybe. I think... that's probably what it is. I can't stand seeing the playback… It just makes me even more nervous,” he admitted. “I love being in front of the camera, but seeing myself on it, it doesn't sit well. I'm so bad about things like social media because I have to stare at myself doing it... I can't seem to do it. But I'm getting better.”

Still, even after years away from the spotlight, Musso's memories of Hannah Montana remain rooted not in the fame of it all, but in the people with whom he shared laughs on and off camera.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”