Brenda Song Says Disney Tried To Keep Her In The ‘Suite Life’ Hotel Heiress Box

While most people remember her as London Tipton, who was obsessed with the “Sweet Life of Zack & Cody,” the actress recently revealed that the transition from a child star to a serious actor is not as smooth as it looks.

According to Brenda Song, Disney tried to stop her from taking on more mature roles in films such as “Gran Torino” and “Social Network.”

She was initially thought to have been in a role in “Gran Torino,” but Disney nixed it because the screenplay’s sexual assault scene was intended. “And while I was very upset, I recalled, ‘Okay, I don’t think it worked out,” she recalled.

A similar situation emerged when Song wanted to audition for David Fincher’s “The Social Network.” At the time, she was still in “Sweet Life” and concerns about mature content threatened to derail the opportunity once again. However, this time she took matters into her own hands.

“I went straight to Gary Marsh, the president and COO of Disney-branded TV at the time,” she explained. “I said, ‘I’m an actor. I wasn’t a hotel heir when you hired me. If you’ve done anything in my personal life to get bad attention to your company, I understand. But this is the last season of the show and this is a lifelong opportunity.”

Her plea worked. Disney has allowed her to do a movie. The song says, “It really changed my life.”

It’s a story that reflects recent revelation from fellow Disney alumni Miley CyrusWho said it Spotify’s “The Ringer” podcast After leaving the network in 2011, she was “not allowed” to perform songs from “Hanna Montana.”

“It was still sad to know that those songs have my voice, my face, and I was not allowed to sing them,” Cyrus shared.

She was given permission to run them again after being nominated as a Disney legend at D23 in 2024.

Like Cyrus, the song found her breakout moment at Disney. But she works hard to evolve beyond her early roles. Her portrayal of London Tipton not only helped define the Disney Channel in the 2000s, but left a lasting impact.

The specific moments continue to her when her character is hilariously mispronounced the abbreviation for car gearshift as “Prindle.”

“It’s always PRNDL and it’s shocking,” the song laughed during the panel. “People always say, ‘You taught me prndl’ or ‘I’m still using prndl’.”

The actress also confessed to maintaining souvenirs from the time of “Sweet Life”, including a pink outfit from the show’s pilot and a huge portrait of London and her dog Ivana, who once hung in her TV suite. It currently lives with a partner for many years to share home songs Macaulay Culkin And their children.

“But they know someone specific, so they hang it in our house and I’m going to be regretted,” she joked.

The song praises the pioneer for many of her early inspirations Ming-na wen, Michelle Yeoand Lucy Liuwas one of the few Asian American actors she saw on screen growing up.

“It’s a growing tricky thing, a Hollywood Asian American actress,” Song said. “If you’re not Jackie Chan Or Jet Lee, I’m not Asian, it was really tough. ”

The song especially shared that Wen had a meaningful influence on her. They worked together when Sing was only 8 years old and she remembers Wen being “very encouraging, very kind and very supportive.”

She also lovingly recalls working with “Night Court” actor Richard Moll in the Nickelodeon series “100 Acts for Eddie McDoud,” explaining she is calm and welcoming in her first long-term project.

She’s been working with recently Pamela Anderson and Kate Hudson And as Fincher herself was directed, the song continues to be humbled by her Disney roots. But it’s not her past that continues to define her, but her tenacity.

“I’m very fortunate,” she said. “But none of them were easy. You have to fight for roles you know you can play.”