Miley Cyrus Reveals Why Her Black Mirror Episode Gave Her Anxiety Attacks

Over the years, Black Mirror has featured many huge stars, and the latest season was no exception. Back when the fifth season was released in 2019, the Netflix series dropped an episode featuring Miley Cyrus, the singer who got her start playing Hannah Montanna on the Disney Channel. Cyrus recently spoke about the experience of making Black Mirror in her TikTok series, “Used to Be Young,” and she explained why the episode gave her anxiety attacks.

In “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too,” two teens named Rachel (Angourie Rice) and Jack (Madison Davenport) yearn to meet their favorite pop singer, Ashley O (Cyrus). Rachel has an Ashley Too doll, which is supposed to be a clone of the star’s personality. The episode shows Ashley O struggling to have agency over her career due to her controlling aunt, and things take a very Black Mirror-type turn when Rachel and Jack’s doll is revealed to have the singer’s entire consciousness. The doll convinces the teens to help the real Ashley O, who is being held prisoner in her own home.

“I was filming Black Mirror and while I was there the fires happened in Malibu,” Cyrus explained in the video (via Variety). “I was in South Africa but [the episode] was taking place in Malibu, so it was just a real trip. Two or three years later after this happened, I didn’t understand, but I had this anxiety attack with a vision attached where I was strapped down to a gurney.”

She continued, “I would have these dreams any time I would go to perform, and I thought that was just an anxious vision that made no sense … But actually, as my house was burning I was strapped to a gurney with my hands locked in handcuffs strapped to a bed [filming Black Mirror].”

“I found out that my house had burned to the ground, and this was the next day of [filming],” Cyrus added, revealing that she filmed the music video for Ashley O’s single “On a Roll” the day after her home burned down.  “The show goes on,” she recalled of her work process at the time. 

What is Black Mirror About? 

Netflix describes Black Mirror as follows, “The show looks inwards, at the darker aspects of humanity and society. This is done through the theme of technology, hence the second meaning. The black mirror is the screen that rules our lives. Taking contemporary phenomena (ranging from the wild popularity of talent shows on TV to the impact of social media and smartphones on our lives) as a starting point and speculate how such phenomena could/would evolve in the future. Each episode tells a different story with different protagonists and focuses on a different theme.” 

The first six seasons of Black Mirror are currently streaming on Netflix.