Northside
To diehard Disney Channel fans, Cody Linley is known as Hannah Montana's sometimes-boyfriend Jake Ryan, but to his friends back in Lewisville, Texas, he's just Cody.
Linley, 20, has always been known as artistic and passionate about music and dance. In fact, he started performing at age 5 at Degan Elementary School.
"I dreamed of being a big movie star, and now to get to where I am, to have worked with so many stars is an honor," Linley told TheMash in a recent phone interview.
Since catching the acting bug in grade school, Linley's been on "Hannah Montana," "Dancing with the Stars" and now he's working on music via his YouTube channel, "The Ro and Co Show," which he started with his friend Roshon Fegan of "Camp Rock." Their music includes acoustic guitar, hip-hop, beatboxing and improv rap.
For the past two years, Linley has played for the Hollywood Knights, a charity celebrity basketball league--which includes Aaron Carter--that plays against high school players to raise money for schools.
His athletic ability helped him get involved with "Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll," a new game for the Wii based on a balance board that you control. While playing the game, Linley--a self-professed video game lover--said it actually feels like you're inside the game.
Playing video games with his brother Scott helps Linley stay normal, even though he gets to work with Miley Cyrus and guest stars such as Sheryl Crow on "Hannah Montana."
"It's a blast," Linley said of his day job. "(Miley) is a really sweet, fun, nice girl--and very humble." Linley has another famous friend in Julianne Hough, who was his partner on "Dancing with the Stars" Season 7.
"I never had the opportunity to do anything like that in my life," he said. "It's really fun because you get to share a bond with your partner and build relation with that person."
He'll get to demonstrate his dance skills again soon in the Broadway musical "Over Hear," where he'll play Bill, a young soldier going off to war.
For any young aspiring actors out there, Linley has a few words of advice.
"You can learn a lot from just watching and make sure you could watch as many movies as you can and get involved with as many school plays, which is something I did," he said. "It really helped me ... just follow your heart."
