Nicholas Sparks Shares How Miley Cyrus Surprised Him with Her 'Incredible Talent' onThe Last SongSet (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Miley Cyrus in 2010’s The Last Song.Photo:Touchstone/Kobal/Shutterstock

Touchstone/Kobal/Shutterstock

Nicholas Sparkshas worked with some great actors throughout his career, but one who really surprised him wasMiley Cyrus.Speaking exclusively with PEOPLE, the North Carolina-based author, 58, fondly recalls working alongside theGrammy-winning singeron the set of his book-to-movie adaptation ofThe Last Song.At the time, Cyrus had already solidified herself as a global pop star with her role on Disney Channel’sHannah Montana, though Sparks notes that she was adamant about showing off her acting chops in his film.As Sparks wrote the screenplay for the movie, he tells PEOPLE that he discussed with Cyrus how much she wanted music to be a part of the story. Though her character Ronnie does play the piano, Sparks notes it was “clear that she wanted to act.”“She preferred that it is just primarily piano because she didn’t want like one of the old Elvis singing movies. She wanted to act, and I thought she did a wonderful job,” he says.Nicholas Sparks and Miley Cyrus promoting The Last Song in 2010.Ida Mae Astute/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty ImagesThough he does recall one specific musical moment in which Cyrus left him in complete awe.“So she had a scene where she had to play the piano. It looked tough to me, right? I said, ‘I didn’t know you could play the piano.’ And she’s like, ‘Oh, I didn’t. I had to learn yesterday. It took me hours.’ I’m like, ‘Hours, to do that, what you just did? Hours? It’d take me weeks to do that.’ ”“But she’s incredibly skilled and talented, and I know she works very hard at music,” he adds of the actress, who was just named theyoungest Disney Legend.“There are some young people that really just surprise you with their staggering talent, whether it’s in the Olympics or whether it’s in something like music. And it was pretty clear that she was really good.”Nicholas Sparks and his book ‘Counting Miracles’.Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal/Getty; Random HouseNever miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.From his past novels to his new ones likeCounting Miracles, Sparks thinks audiences still resonate with his work today because the stories hold one common theme: they’re about the human experience.“People change less than the world changes, right? The world moves on, but people and their emotions and what they go through, that evolves a lot more slowly,” he notes. “So what I write feels real because people feel curiosity or interest or attraction or infatuation or love or sadness or anger. And I try to have my novels include a lot of those elements so they feel very real. I just try to package them with each novel in entirely different ways in the hopes that I can surprise the reader.”

Nicholas Sparkshas worked with some great actors throughout his career, but one who really surprised him wasMiley Cyrus.

Speaking exclusively with PEOPLE, the North Carolina-based author, 58, fondly recalls working alongside theGrammy-winning singeron the set of his book-to-movie adaptation ofThe Last Song.

At the time, Cyrus had already solidified herself as a global pop star with her role on Disney Channel’sHannah Montana, though Sparks notes that she was adamant about showing off her acting chops in his film.

As Sparks wrote the screenplay for the movie, he tells PEOPLE that he discussed with Cyrus how much she wanted music to be a part of the story. Though her character Ronnie does play the piano, Sparks notes it was “clear that she wanted to act.”

“She preferred that it is just primarily piano because she didn’t want like one of the old Elvis singing movies. She wanted to act, and I thought she did a wonderful job,” he says.

Nicholas Sparks and Miley Cyrus promoting The Last Song in 2010.Ida Mae Astute/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

Ida Mae Astute/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

Though he does recall one specific musical moment in which Cyrus left him in complete awe.

“So she had a scene where she had to play the piano. It looked tough to me, right? I said, ‘I didn’t know you could play the piano.’ And she’s like, ‘Oh, I didn’t. I had to learn yesterday. It took me hours.’ I’m like, ‘Hours, to do that, what you just did? Hours? It’d take me weeks to do that.’ ”“But she’s incredibly skilled and talented, and I know she works very hard at music,” he adds of the actress, who was just named theyoungest Disney Legend.

“There are some young people that really just surprise you with their staggering talent, whether it’s in the Olympics or whether it’s in something like music. And it was pretty clear that she was really good.”

Nicholas Sparks and his book ‘Counting Miracles’.Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal/Getty; Random House

Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal/Getty; Random House

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

From his past novels to his new ones likeCounting Miracles, Sparks thinks audiences still resonate with his work today because the stories hold one common theme: they’re about the human experience.

“People change less than the world changes, right? The world moves on, but people and their emotions and what they go through, that evolves a lot more slowly,” he notes. “So what I write feels real because people feel curiosity or interest or attraction or infatuation or love or sadness or anger. And I try to have my novels include a lot of those elements so they feel very real. I just try to package them with each novel in entirely different ways in the hopes that I can surprise the reader.”

source: people.com