Miley Cyrus and Woody Allen Getty Images
Allen himself also will star in the six-episode series.
Miley Cyrus is heading back to TV.
The singer will star in Woody Allen’s upcoming Amazon series alongside Elaine May, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Allen, who is writing and directing each of the untitled project's half-hour episodes, also will play an onscreen role. The six-episode project will join Amazon's slate of originals, which includes Golden Globe winners Mozart in the Jungle and Transparent.
Allen bypassed Amazon's typical pilot process — which traditionally allows its Prime Instant Video subscribers to watch pilots and then vote on which ones they'd like to see turn into potential series — and received a rare straight-to-series order from the streamer in January 2015.
At the Television Critics Association's press tour last summer, Amazon Studios chief Roy Price told reporters that it was he who approached Allen about a collaboration. "Woody Allen is one of the greatest filmmakers America has ever produced," he said. "And when we talk about what would be a great inspiration for a show, a lot of Woody Allen films kept coming up ... so then we just thought, what if we asked Woody Allen himself to do a show?"
When asked about whether he took into account the allegations of sexual abuse trailing Allen when they added the veteran filmmaker to their roster, Price seemed to grow uncomfortable. "I think you have to look at the whole picture, but focus on ... " he trailed off. "[You] take everything into account ... but our focus is on the fact that he’s a great filmmaker and storyteller and we look forward to the show in 2016."
Miley Cyrus Woody Allen Amazon Studios
