During her early days in Hollywood, Emily Osment was known for her role as Lilly Truscott on Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana. Now, the actress is all grown up and has appeared in tons of movies and TV shows, even having the starring role in Young & Hungry from 2014 to 2018.
“It is physical [comedy] and it is a sitcom, but it’s older and it’s sexy and it’s funny, and it’s a different style,” the actress told MTV in June 2014, noting how her role as Gabi Diamond was different than anything she’s ever played. “It pushes the limits for ABC Family [now Freeform].”
At the time, Emily was aware of her Hannah Montana fanbase growing up alongside her and hoped that the viewers would “carry over to this and see a real, authentic story about a girl that seems very genuine, and is easy to connect with and easy to relate to.”
She added, “There are so many stories about being in your young 20s and running out of hot water because you forgot to pay your power bill or your electric bill, and just the blunders that this character goes through. I hope that that connects with whatever audience tunes in. I hope it does relate, because we’re writing these stories where I’m like, ‘I’ve totally been here, I’ve been in this situation.'”
Years after her Disney Channel days were behind her, Emily even looked back at her time on Hannah Montana with fond memories.
“This is one of my favorite photos from HM. Have no idea who took it or why the great room set is empty on a tape night, but I have a physical copy of it from a disposable camera and now it’s on the internet,” the Sky Kids alum posted on Instagram in May 2020, sharing a picture of herself and Miley Cyrus looking at each other. “I spent a couple hundred Friday nights here instead of all the places a normal teenager should have been and it made me an adult faster than I could prepare myself for. However, I am grateful to have been handed a sense of accountability and purpose at such a young age because I still have it — and then some.”
Looks like lots of lessons were learned in the early days of Emily’s career! Scroll through our gallery to see her transformation over the years.
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