Childhood & Early Life
Mitchel Musso was born Mitchel Tate Musso, on July 9, 1991, in Garland, Texas, and was raised in Rockwall, Texas. His parents, Katherine and Samuel Musso, were actors and were actively involved in a local community theater. As a child, Mitchel was fascinated by his parents’ artistic work, and that later helped him decide to be an actor.
As he started his career at a very young age, he did not get enough time to attend regular school. Thus, Mitchel was homeschooled during most of his childhood.
He grew up with his two brothers. One of his older brothers, Mason Musso, was a singer in a band known as ‘Metro Station,’ alongside Miley Cyrus’s brother. Being close to his brother, he developed a keen interest in music at an early age and later launched his own music career.
Before appearing in his breakthrough film, he had appeared in a short film titled ‘Am I Cursed?,’ as ‘Richie.’ His performance helped him bag a small role as a ‘Cub Scout’ in a feature film titled ‘The Keyman.’ Although he appeared in these two films, he had to go through several rounds of auditions to finally earn his breakthrough role in the 2003 film ‘Secondhand Lions.’
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Career
In 2003, Mitchel played the role of ‘Aang’ in an unaired pilot of the series ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender.’ Similarly, he also played the role of ‘One Nad aka Walter’ in an episode of the 2004 TV series ‘Oliver Beene,’ titled ‘Soup to Nuts.’
In 2006, he appeared in the role of ‘Andy Larkmon’ in an episode of the series ‘Squirrel Boy.’
Finally, after appearing in several small roles in various TV series, he bagged a role in the famous ‘Disney’ series ‘Hannah Montana,’ which starred Miley Cyrus in the lead role. It was an American musical comedy series about a teenage girl living the lives of a music star and a normal school girl at the same time.
His role in ‘Hannah Montana’ brought him a lot of fame. As the show was also telecast in other countries, Mitchel became an international star.
He was appreciated for his voice role of ‘Jeremy Johnson’ in the animated series ‘Phineas and Ferb,’ from 2007 to 2015.
In 2003, he was cast in the Hollywood film ‘Secondhand Lions,’ his full-fledged debut feature film. The film was about an introverted young man staying with his bachelor great-uncles in a farm in Texas. The movie featured Mitchel in a small role as a child actor. The movie also starred his brother, Marc Musso. For the first time, he gained humongous appreciation for his acting skills. Soon, he was nominated for the ‘Young Artist Award’ in the category of ‘Best Performance in a Feature Film- Young Actor Age Ten or Younger.’
The 2005 TV film ‘Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire’ featured Mitchel in the role of ‘Josh Whitley.’
He lent his voice to the character of ‘Dustin J. “DJ” Walters’ in the 2006 film ‘Monster House.’ His performance in the movie earned him a nomination for the ‘Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films’ award in the category of ‘Best Performance by a Younger Actor.’
He appeared as the protagonist’s best friend, ‘Raymond Figg,’ in the movie ‘Life Is Ruff.’
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In 2007, Mitchel lent his voice to the character ‘Curtis’ in the series ‘King of the Hill.’ His role continued for three episodes.
In 2010, he was offered the main role in the series ‘Pair of Kings.’
In 2011, Mitchel hosted a show titled ‘PrankStars,’ which was a six-episode American reality show that aired on ‘Disney Channel.’ The concept of the show was quite unique. The show featured children and teenagers meeting their favourite stars, while being recorded by a hidden camera.
In 2016, Mitchel was offered another voice role. He lent his voice to ‘Wally’ in the series ‘Milo Murphy’s Law.’
By the late 2000s, he had also started paying attention to his music career. In 2009, he finally fulfilled his long-awaited dream when he released his debut album, ‘Mitchel Musso.’
Prior to the release of the album, he had released his first single, ‘The in Crowd,’ in December 2008. He released his second single, ‘Hey,’ in May 2009.
Mitchel also sang several songs for ‘Disney.’ He sang the remix of the song ‘Lean on Me’ for the ‘Disney’ film ‘Snow Buddies.’ He also sang ‘If I Didn’t Have You’ and ‘Stand Out.’
Mitchel also sang the song ‘The Girl Can’t Help It’ for the ‘Disney Channel’ movie ‘Princess Protection Program.’ He continued to sing more songs, such as ‘Live like Kings,’ which was featured on the ‘Disney XD’ series ‘Pair of Kings’ that also starred Musso.
In 2010, Mitchel released his EP, ‘Brainstorm,’ which included eight tracks, namely, ‘Get Away’, ‘Got Your Heart’, ‘Celebrate’, ‘You Got Me Hooked’, ‘Just Go’, ‘Empty’, ‘Come Back My Love’ and ‘Open the Door.’
Personal Life
While filming the popular ‘Disney’ series ‘Hannah Montana,’ Musso met Emily Osment on the sets. Soon, they fell for each other. They dated for around two years before parting ways.
Mitchel also dated Gia Mantegna for quite some time. Mitchel has been in relationships with many women throughout his career, but his rumored relationship with actor Katelyn Tarver, who was two years older than him, stole the limelight. His affair with American actor Cody Kennedy was also in the news for a while.
In October 2011, Mitchel was caught driving under the influence of alcohol and had to pay a fine of $5,000. It did not seem like a very big deal initially, but the incident led to the show ‘PrankStars’ being canceled and his character in ‘Pair of Kings’ being written off.