‘Hannah Montana’ Star Reveals Why She Quit Acting

More than a decade after she left acting, author Morgan York is still asked why she left the profession behind after starring in Steve Martin’s Cheaper by the Dozen movies and Hannah Montana. In a recent TikTok clip, the 28-year-old explained that she does not miss acting and just outgrew her interest in it. She was more passionate about writing and never saw herself as an adult actor.

“I started acting when I was nine and from the beginning, my mom told me, ‘The second this becomes not fun or you want to stop, you can stop,’” York explained. “I never expected it to be a lifetime thing.” Even as a kid, she tried to imagine herself as an adult actor and did not see it. “I saw myself stopping acting at the very least when I started college and then just never going back,” she continued.

York admitted to “wildly” underestimating there would be an “uproar” about her decision to leave acting 11 years ago. “It wasn’t fun anymore,” she said. “My passion for acting did not outweigh all the costs, like all the time you have to spend away from loved ones on sets ad the constant scrutiny from people watching you.” York noted that her passion for acting was “just much stronger” and was “something I preferred.”

On Sunday, she took another question from a TikTok follower who asked if she is still in touch with anyone from the Hannah Montana cast. Before noting that she hasn’t spoken with anyone from the show since 2010, York noted that she does not consider herself famous. “I wasn’t in that much, relatively speaking,” she noted. “I can go about my life… most people don’t know my name if you just say it. If you said Miley Cyrus’ name, most people know who that is.”

The only way she could have interacted with her Hannah Montana co-stars is on social media, York said. She does follow them on social media platforms but is not sure if any of them followed her back. “That’s fine,” she said. “They are famous. They either don’t remember me or they have so many followers they don’t even know I’m one of them. It’s not personal.”

York shot to fame in 2003 when she starred as Kim Baker in Cheaper by the Dozen. She also starred in The Pacifier (2005) and Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005) before she was cast as Sarah in Hannah Montana in 2006. She appeared in 11 episodes in total, making her final appearance in 2010. Two years later, she penned an essay on her blog, noting that she preferred to say she “stopped” acting, rather than “quit.” In 2019, she married Danny Haddad.