Even when he's playing Dad to Miley and actor Jason Earles on Hannah Montana, "we push Billy Ray to be more authoritative than he likes to be," says executive producer Steven Peterman. Photo by: JOEL WARREN / DISNEY CHANNEL |
So aside from juggling homework (she's enrolled in a public school that allows her to study on set and come in for exams on Fridays) with her Monday through Friday shooting schedule, Miley tackles her share of chores, such as loading the dishwasher every night. When she's grounded, her parents revoke all computer privileges and "I still threaten her with a wooden spoon to the butt!" Tish says. Every Sunday Miley must attend church with the rest of the family, which includes Braison, 13, Noah, 7, and Tish's kids from a previous relationship, Brandi, 20, and Trace, 18, whom Billy Ray adopted as tots. ("They consider him their dad," says Tish; Billy Ray also has a son from a previous relationship, Christopher Cody, 15.) Then there are Mom's magazine-wielding lectures about the missteps of young Hollywood. "It is so scary as a mom to see all these kids who are so whacked now," Tish says. "I don't want to be too much and have her rebel. Not that we think she's going to do that, but Miley does have a very explosive personality, which scares me a little."
If Mom is the family's disciplinarian, Dad is the confidant. "We're really close," Miley says. "I feel like I can tell my dad anything. When we come home, we forget that we even work together and just hang out." Says Billy Ray: "It's the same with Miley as it is with all my kids. I try to be their best friend. . . . It's a real fine line, and thus far" – he knocks on wood again – "it's a line I've been able to walk."
And he brings the perspective of his own rough ride with fame. After "Achy Breaky Heart" became a huge hit in '92, the Kentucky native struggled with lackluster album sales and a backlash from the country music community until he decided to take a step back. "I became a recluse," says Billy Ray, who retreated to his 500-acre Nashville farm with Tish (they wed in 1993, a year after Miley was born). "All I wanted to do is be with my family." When Miley – her given name is Destiny Hope, but she was such a bubbly baby that Billy Ray nicknamed her Smiley and shortened it to Miley over the years – was growing up, father and daughter would set out on horseback or ATV for daylong adventures. Says Billy Ray: "We played our hearts out."
