ICYMI, Natalia Dyer's First Role Was in Hannah Montana: The Movie
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We know and love her as the brave and bold Nancy Wheeler on Stranger Things, but before Natalia Dyer landed her breakout role in the hit sci-fi series, she played a small part in an entirely different pop culture phenomenon.
Back in 2009, Natalia’s acting career began with a role in Hannah Montana: The Movie — amazed? Us too. Before she slayed demogorgons and battled the unknowns of the Upside Down, Natalia got a glimpse into Miley Stewart’s double life as a famous pop star.
She played a character named Clarissa Granger, a Hannah Montana megafan from England and the daughter of the film’s villain, Oswald Granger. She only appears on-screen for about one minute, when she and her sister in the movie beg their father for tickets to Hannah’s concert and subsequently fangirl over the pop icon.
In a recent interview with ELLE UK, the actress reflected on her “small, little bit” in the film, and contemplated what her own alter ego would be like.
“I’m pretty introverted and keep to myself, so if she’s my alter ego, I think she would have to be a bit more outgoing and just out in the world,” Natalia said with a smile. “Maybe she loves social media and does it all the time, I don’t know.”
Natalia reminisced on the scene in a May interview with Cosmopolitan as well, and explained how she landed the part.
“I was living in Nashville at the time and there wasn’t a lot of big film going on there, so when this came through it was the talk of the town. It was a big deal,” she said. “And then there was this role for these two British girls, and I think they just decided… They were like, ‘Hey, let’s just cast them from Nashville.’”
“My accent’s not great. I know that,” she added. “But, you know, it was a couple days of just that, of just screaming about Hannah Montana. It was so hot, too. That day in particular it was so… We were just out in this giant field and it was so miserably hot and there were so many extras.”
Natalia went on to note that the role was her “jump-off point” and called the experience a “very special, special little moment.”
Although small, the role definitely proved that Natalia is an icon in the making, and you cannot convince us otherwise.
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