Hannah Montana captivated Disney Channel fans for a whopping four seasons, which aired between 2006 and 2011, and propelled its leading star Miley Cyrus to become a household name thanks to her incredibly successful music career outside of the show.
The 29-year-old played Hannah, the teenage girl who keeps her identity a secret from even her closest friends by using a disguise on stage. While she eventually tells Emily Osment’s character, Lilly Truscott, about her double life, others are left in the dark.
Hannah Montana was a Disney phenomenon, which later spawned the release of Hannah Montana: The Movie in 2009. Needless to say, the show was a huge success, and while most of us are still keeping up with Cyrus and her music career, we haven’t really heard much from her former cast members, including Moises Arias, who played Rico. Here’s the lowdown…
What’s Moises Up To These Days?
After Hannah Montana ended in 2011, Arias went on to star in a string of low-budget flicks such as We the Party, Noobz, The Kings of Summer, and The Land.
He did see some notable success as Antonio Perez in 2013’s Despicable Me 2 before being cast in the action flick Ender’s Game as Bonzo Madrid.
Not to mention, he also had a recurring role playing Matt in the TV series The Middle.
Other films he’s appeared in include Pitch Perfect 3, Blast Beat, The King of Staten Island (with Pete Davidson), and Jockey.
Fans will soon get to see Arias playing Reza opposite Sylvester Stallone in the film Samaritan, which is expected to enter cinemas later this year, though an official release date has yet to be announced.
Filming for the motion picture was pushed back due to the pandemic, which Arias recently spoke about in an interview with ComicBookMoive.com.
"What we had done, it was a great group of people, and it's really intense and creative and a difficult endeavor, so I hope we can get back to finish the second half soon,” he revealed.
He’ll also be joining Idina Menzel and Ryan Phillippe in American Murderer, which recently entered post-production, according to IMDb, meaning the film could also see a release date by the year’s end.
Needless to say, this former Disney Channel — though he has very much remained under the radar for the most part — has definitely been keeping himself busy in Hollywood.
What Happened With Moises And Willow Smith?
In 2014, a then-20-year-old Arias caused controversy after being photographed laying shirtless in bed with a then-13-year-old Willow Smith, daughter to Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith.
People were outraged and disturbed by the image, though the Smith family later addressed the matter, saying Arias is a family friend who they have known for years.
Jada, in particular, was very vocal in saying that it was people who were putting their “sick and twisted” narrative on an innocent and harmless picture.
The family shed light on the photo again during a 2019 episode of Red Table Talk, where Jada elaborated: “The boys (Moisés and his brother Mateo) basically lived with us, so they’re like her brothers. These boys are always in this house with their shirts off.”
In response, Willow chimed in, saying: “I find that other celebrities, females who aren’t black, who are younger and who do post things that are way more sexual than that, they don’t get any backlash."
The family was later investigated by the DCFS, which left Willow’s parents stunned since they knew there was no sexual intent behind the image of Arias in bed with the Whip My Hair chart-topper.
Willow went on to say: “I was looking at the lady, and the whole time I was thinking, you could be helping so many kids right now and you’re wasting your time with a child who has everything that they need.”
Jada hoped that the incident was a learning lesson for her family, including Arias, that you have to be careful with the energy you invite around you, which is why the Smiths tend to keep a very small circle around them, she added.
“That was the moment that I feel like we really locked up together as a family. The kids got to see for the first time why Will and I had been so protective, be careful who you talk to, be careful who you hang with, watch yourself because people try to hurt you.”
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