Miley Cyrus on ‘Avatar Fire and Ash’ Song, ‘Hannah Montana’ Anniversary

How did Miley Cyrus find herself writing a ballad for an “Avatar” movie? It’s all thanks to her Disney “legend-in-law,” director James Cameron.

Last summer, Cyrus found herself waiting backstage at the D23 Expo in Anaheim to be inducted into the studio’s Hall of Fame. Who was in front of her in line? Just a few cinema icons: Harrison Ford, otherwise known as Han Solo or Indiana Jones; the iconic scream queen and “Freaky Friday” star Jamie Lee Curtis; and Cameron.

First, Curtis cornered Cyrus, seizing the moment to recruit the Grammy winner to write the end credits song for her latest movie, “The Last Showgirl.” (That track, “Beautiful That Way,” later earned Cyrus a Golden Globe nomination.) Since they were talking business, Cyrus decided to shoot her shot, too, and asked Cameron how things were going with his latest “Avatar” movie, “Fire and Ash.” She’d been a fan of the blockbuster sci-fi franchise since it launched in 2009, so contributing to the threequel would be a bucket list opportunity.

“I’m magnetized to the scale of the films and of it being larger than life,” Cyrus tells Variety, following the world premiere in Los Angeles.

For as epic as Cameron’s vision of Pandora and the Na’vi who inhabit the distant moon might be, she explains, the story is firmly rooted in human emotion and relatable dynamics. “I love things that kind of contradict themselves,” Cyrus says. “The acting is unbelievable. It’s the only way I think that you can get away with doing something so deep in this fantasy world, and it still feels really grounded in real human connection and relationships.”

And, as luck would have it, Cameron had already pitched the idea of working with her to “Avatar” composer, Simon Franglen. Cameron wanted the song to be titled “Dream as One,” as the phrase evokes the film’s finale, but the rest would be up to Cyrus and her collaborators, Oscar winners Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt (“A Star is Born,” “Barbie”).

“Coming in at the end was actually really helpful, because, when you’ve worked on something for like 20 years, you get so close to it that it’s hard to see it from that outside perspective,” Cyrus says. “I’m just writing it like someone who loves ‘Avatar.’”

Cyrus, Ronson and Wyatt worked on the song in Los Angeles while Franglen was in New Zealand with Cameron putting the finishing touches on the score. To help them understand the story, Franglen set the trio up with footage from the unfinished film, which they then projected on the walls of the iconic Sunset Sound recording studio as they wrote.

“Simon gave us really beautiful, environmental shots, just so we could actually feel like we were in the water, that we were in the shade of the trees, that we were surrounded by that magical fantasy universe,” Cyrus says.

Digging into the source material is key to Cyrus’ songwriting process. “I’m always trying to get to underneath it all,” she says. “‘What’s the heart of the universe that makes billions of people love it so much?’ Because people really adore it in a way that it’s really hard for a franchise to hit that level of emotion.”

Cyrus would also call Cameron to chat. “Sometimes I’d go to call him for two minutes, and we’d talk for two hours – just about life,” she says. “That was almost more helpful, even, than watching the film, because I could see his own story in the script.”

“Fire and Ash” deeply resonated with Cyrus, too, as the movie introduces a new clan of Na’vi, the Ash people, whose home was destroyed in a volcanic eruption, and she lost her Malibu home to a wildfire in 2018. “It’s literally part of my life,” she says. “Losing my home, rebuilding from the ground up, having this real, like Phoenix resilience.”

The opening lyrics — “Our love will never fade away // We’re diamonds in the dark” — came to Cyrus as she recalled sifting through the rubble of her burned-out home to find a lone diamond in the dust. The fortitude of that gem was imprinted on her memory.

“Living through it is the only way to fully understand what everyone goes through. And even if you’ve gone through it yourself, everybody has such a unique experience with loss,” Cyrus says about capturing the heartbreaking experience in song. “With my house, I had lived there for five years, and there’s people who have been living in their houses for 50 years. Everything they’ve ever had, every picture, everything that’s ever had an emotional sentiment to them, is gone.”

She continues: “Anytime I get to put something that I’ve experienced somewhere that gets to help other people, that’s really the medicine in music. It’s the truest healer.”

“Dream As One” has been well-received thus far; the ballad is nominated for a Golden Globe and shortlisted for best original song at the Academy Awards. But it’s not the only Disney-related project Cyrus has in the works. Next spring marks the 20th anniversary of her iconic Disney Channel series, “Hannah Montana,” and she’s carefully considering how to celebrate.

“Something that they always say in ‘Avatar’ is ‘I see you’ — and that’s something really important that I want the fans to feel during the ‘Hannah-versary,’” Cyrus says. “Someone called it the ‘Hannah’ anniversary the other day, and I was like ‘No, no, no, it’s the ‘Hannah-versary,’” she clarifies, then continues. “I want the fans to really feel seen. They know that I appreciate them, but I also see like their growth. Because I have these moments all the time where people celebrate my evolution, but I see theirs as much as they see mine.”

So, does that mean in-person festivities, like a concert tour?

“TBD. That’s still in the works,” Cyrus teases. “Everything takes time. I want to make something that’s meaningful, thoughtful and really satisfying for the fans.”