Miley Cyrus is all grown up and showing out on the latest cover of Cosmopolitan magazine. Check out the photos and interview below.

 For more of Miley’s exclusive with Cosmopolitan, pick up the new issue on  newsstands Feb. 5!

The room I’m in with Miley Cyrus, just off the entryway of her mansion in Toluca  Lake, Los Angeles, used to house her dad’s guitars. Recently refurbished, now  it’s one hundred percent Miley: a room stocked with mementos that show who this  former child star used to be and who she is now, at age 20.

There’s a  picture of 5-year-old Miley sitting in the lap of her dad, Billy Ray, at  SeaWorld. Nearby is a photo of her in a passionate clinch with Hunger Games star  Liam Hemsworth, taken mere hours after they got engaged. A book of art from Tim  Burton, who directed Miley in her first film, Big Fish, dominates a table, while  a cast photo from her new movie, So Undercover, sits on a book shelf a little  farther away. Under that photo is a tree branch that Miley’s former security  guard expertly carved into the shape of a guitar’s headstock and fretboard–a  reminder that Miley will soon release a buzzed-about new album, her first since  wrapping the show that made her famous.

The room can barely contain the  energetic star, who tries to settle in a chair, then bounds up to perch on its  armrest, and at other times, leans in to show off the contents of her iPhone,  filled with pictures of Liam, her dogs, and screenshots from the TV movie Liz  and Dick. She’s dressed casually in a plaid button-down, but her hair is white  blonde and shaved on the sides, the kind of look that can be rocked only by a  woman who’s truly confident in herself. Whatever else she is, that’s  Miley.

Cosmo: If I asked you to rank the parts of your life that you feel  most satisfied with–love, family, music, acting–what would be at the  top?

Miley: Number one is my relationship with Liam. That’s what I feel  the most confident in because you never know; there’s so much hype behind my new  record, but it could come out and, worst-case scenario, everyone fucking hates  it.

Cosmo: But you seem proud of it.

Miley: Definitely, it’s the  second thing that I’m most content with. I’ve never gotten to make a record like  this because Disney’s always been on my back saying, “You’ve got to promote the  TV show in two months, so make sure your record’s done…and when you promote  your record, can you promote the show, the movie, and the Hannah Montana  record?” I was basically carrying two people’s careers and trying to make mine  the priority. Now, it’s almost like being a new artist and trying to make a  first impression. I think the best thing I could have done was take those two  years off to really live, because now people don’t think of me as who I was on  the TV show.
Cosmo: Do you think they ever really did? When pictures from  your personal life would leak, they presented a very different image than Hannah  Montana.

Miley: Some of the worst things that have happened in my career,  like things getting leaked, have actually been what’s best for me, because  people knew when I was on that show that I was really growing up. I never faked  anything. I never played the Disney game of smiling and being a princess and  then suddenly having a hard time, saying, “That isn’t who I really  am.”

Cosmo: You collaborate with many unexpected names on this record.  Safe to say you have a new sound?

Miley: I wrote this song with Mary J.  Blige, and Tyler the Creator heard it and said, “I am obsessed with this song,  and I will guest on it if you promise me that you will keep it on the album.”  And he killed it! I really didn’t want to make a hip-hop record, and I’m not  trying at all to be a Rihanna or a Nicki [Minaj]….That’s not my vibe. When I  was growing up, my older brother would sneak me Nelly CDs, my dad had me  listening to Dolly [Parton] and Johnny [Cash], and my mom is a complete metal  head. So this record is a weird mixture of all that.

Cosmo: Unlike a lot  of musicians, you celebrate your competition.

Miley: Katy Perry’s been my  friend for fucking five years, and I’m not ever gonna let our work get between  that relationship. If Katy sticks with being Katy, and Ke$ha is Ke$ha, and  Rihanna is Rihanna, and I’m me, there’s room for everybody. The problem is when  people look at Gaga and say, “Oh, that works; I’m going to be like  that.”

Cosmo: What are you listening to?

Miley: Frank Ocean’s  record is so good. And I like that he came out and admitted he was gay, because  that still affects people’s careers. If you don’t think it does, it fucking  does, and he did not care. I think it’s going to make him even  bigger.

Cosmo: Really?

Miley: Yeah! Now he’s going to have much  more loyal fans. If you want to know who’s gonna buy your record for the rest of  your life, get Brazilians and gays on your side.

Cosmo: Why  Brazilians?

Miley: I don’t know! My dad told me that when I was little.  And my last tour there, there were 20,000 people in one night. It was  insane!

Cosmo: Tell me about your newest film, So  Undercover.

Miley: I did this right after I ended Hannah, so that was a  completely different person from the person who is sitting here now. I don’t  want people to now see that film and then listen to my record and go, “Well, who  is she? Who is she trying to be?” The timing kind of sucks, because I want it to  be about the album.

Cosmo: Does it put a dent in your enthusiasm to  act?

Miley: I’m definitely putting acting on the back burner, although I  loved doing Two and a Half Men. You work on a movie for three months and you  either become emotionally attached to it or hate it…and then it’s torture  having to tell people to watch it, because you could barely watch it. In music,  you have the control. But with acting, some times you get put in a bad  situation.

Cosmo: Let’s talk about Liam. Do you ever have these moments  when you’re still struck by how hot he is?

Miley: Yeah, all the time!  I’ll literally look at him and be like “You are hot, dear god!” The other day, I  turned on the pool heater and it was steaming, and he walked outside and took  off his clothes and jumped in the pool. I was like, “I’m gonna faint–the  hottest guy of my life is in a steaming pool. This looks like a Playgirl shoot.”  So I took a photo and made it the background on my phone. My best friend grabbed  my phone and was like, “Who’s that? He is so hot!” That’s my hubby!