Brenda Song Is Undefinable, Unshakable and Unapologetic
You could try to put Brenda Song into a box. You might see her for her Asian American heritage. You could recognize her as the ditzy hotel heiress from a beloved Disney sitcom. Perhaps youād typecast her, judge her at face value, and limit her to the roles she has played before.
You could do all of thatābut youād be wrong.
In truth, underestimating Brenda Song is probably one of the biggest mistakes you could possibly make. Sheās blessed with a magnetic personality, a sharp intellect and an effortless beauty that no one can deny. But on top of all that, she has a willpower and work ethic that have taken her (and her career) to new heights.
āIāve never not remembered a time when I didnāt want to be performing,ā she says. āI started in this industry very, very early. I was 3āalmost 4 [years old]āin the Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento. And in the middle of the mall, they were doing this model search.ā A talent scout watched Song mimicking their catwalk and approached her mother, giving her the āwhole spiel.ā Songās mother, unimpressed by the presentation, finished up at the mall and took the soon-to-be starlet home.
āMy parents had me very young,ā Song explains, āso they were very, very young and very, very poor. My grandparents, at the time, thought that to get on TV, you had to somehow get into the TV.ā But even from a young age, Song was the decider of her own fate. āA few weeks later, I was really sick, and all I could talk about was this acting school, and I wouldnāt take my Robitussin. I know I was only 3 or 4, but I was talking, and I wouldnāt shut up,ā Song says. Struggling to get her chatty (if not persistent) granddaughter to take her medicine, Songās grandma struck a deal with her: āāIf you take this medicine, I will take you to this acting school.āā
āSo my grandma took everything out of her savings, which was $527, and took me to this acting schoolāwhich, obviously, wasnāt legit,ā she recalls. āBut through them, I met a real agent.ā
From there, Song kept pushing for her career. She began with print work right away. Then, around her sixth birthday, her family found another agent and moved to LA. Shortly after, Song booked her first commercial. āEven after I booked my first series, my mom used to joke, āWe have to go back when you stop working!āā notes Song.Ā
āIt didnāt even become a career until I was 16,ā she says. That year, her mom, a four-time breast cancer survivor, was diagnosed for the first time, Song had just booked āThe Suite Life of Zack and Codyā and she had just gotten accepted into college. āI loved schoolāI was an overachiever. Plus, my dad was a second-grade teacher. He said, āHey, if you want to do this, this has to become your career.āā Up until that point, performing was an āafter-school activityā or a reward. Her fatherās advice was to either go to college and figure out what she wanted to do, or to go all-in with performing. āAt 16, I made the career choice,ā Song explains. āI just never thought about doing anything else.ā
Although we know the story of her aspiring career has a happy ending, it was not without its hurdles. āI had to learn rejection at a really young age,ā she says. ā[It came from] auditioning [as a kid] and knowing that people werenāt even looking up because I wasnāt blonde-haired, blue-eyedābecause I didnāt fit the image.āĀ
āOf course there were speed bumps,ā she says. āGoing into auditions, I knew I couldnāt play Harrison Fordās daughter; it was very limited.ā But with her pragmatic, after-school approach to performing and her parentsā support, Song stayed motivated. āMy mom would always say that there was only one me, and if theyāre not looking for me, itās okay. There are more than enough opportunities out there, and I canāt change who I am. And do I event want to?ā she explains. To this day, that mentality gets Song through the rejections and tears, as well as the moments when she doubts her choices.Ā
Even recently, she found herself at a crossroads in her career. She was questioning what was next and where exactly she fit in. Song had played a plethora of roles through Disney, including the iconic London Tipton in Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Wendy Wu in Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, as well as various TV shows and movies.Ā
She saw Disneyās ācolor-blind castingā as a gift. When she originally booked āSuite Life,ā she was actually going in to play Maddie, a smart, sweet hotel employee. Ashley Tisdale, Songās blonde peer, was going in for London, the hotel heiressābut the producers decided to switch their roles. According to Song, āThey truly were just casting for who was right for the part.āĀ
And while Londonās character goes against the way Asian Americans actresses are typically portrayed on-screen, she fell into other boxes when it came to casting. āWhen I was on āSuite Life,ā all the roles I kept getting offered were these ditzy roles,ā she explains. āAnd then when Wendy Wu came about, people would ask, āWhy would you jump into the stereotype of Asians doing martial arts?āāĀ Brenda Song
But Song didnāt see it that way. Aside from having a second-degree black belt, Song wanted to play the part because of how the main character, Wendy, struggles with how her heritage differs from American culture.
āI was walking out of one stereotype and into anotherāand thatās always the caseāI think everyone is stereotyped in some way,ā Brenda Song says. āBut itās about letting those go and doing projects youāre passionate about, regardless of what everyone else thinks about it.ā
So when she found out that bestselling novel āCrazy Rich Asiansā was being made into a film, she was eager to audition. However, she found out that she wouldnāt be able to audition for any of the roles. āThey thought I wasnāt right for it,ā she explains. āI was like, āThe lead character is in her mid-to-late-20s, an Asian American, strugglingāhow am I not right for it?ā And they were very honest and said that my image was, basically, too whitewashed.ā
For anyone whoās seen Crazy Rich Asians, itās clear that one of the primary achievements of the film is how it opened up more Asian American representation in the industry. For too long, the only roles for Asian American and Pacific Islanders tended to be smaller parts that played to certain tropes. Roles like the alluring but deadly Dragon Lady, the wise martial arts master, the meek, quiet nerd and the foreigner speaking in almost-unrecognizable broken English are not only offensive and limiting, but theyāre also stale and uninteresting.
āSome actors donāt fit into those rolesāI donāt fit into a lot of those roles,ā Song explains. āEven though I do martial arts, I have a hard time playing an assassin or a ninja! Thatās just not who I am. For a while that was the only part in mainstream movies that I could audition for.ā Fortunately, there is a movement for AAPI representation in the industry, and itās making headway. This is especially thanks to popular movies like Crazy Rich Asians, Always Be My Maybe and To All the Boys Iāve Loved Before.
Needless to say, after years of being overlooked for her race, Song was blindsided by the sentiment shared by Crazy Rich Asiansā casting department. āIt felt like I was being punished for having worked in this industry for so long,ā she says. āI didnāt understand, and it really hurt me, I was very confused.ā
āI donāt ever expect anyone to hand me workāI just want my day in court,ā Song shares. āI’ve auditioned for so many things that werenāt right for me. A lot of the roles that I booked were not written for a minority. Iāve booked roles that were written for boys! However, for something that I thought was so right for me, and I couldnāt even go read for it⦠It really discouraged me. I thought, āIf I canāt go read for this, then what am I doing?āā
Despite her work to break out of being cast or not cast based on her minority status, she felt that she had broken through one box, only to have been put into a different one. āI felt like I was being judged on my past work. I fought so hard to get away from that already,ā she explains.
Then, for the first time in 26 years, Song took time off. āI was in such a weird place. It was the first time in a long time I had felt discouraged,ā she admits. But thereās nothing a little travel, self-reflection and new outlook canāt fix.
āI came back with this mentality of, āI am who I am.ā I am so grateful for every yes and, also, for every no because it made me who I amānot just the actor that I am, but the person that I am.ā Brenda Song
Two weeks after returning to work, she had booked the lead role (Jennifer) in Netflix thriller Secret Obsession, and shortly after that, she booked Madison in Huluās āDollface;ā a role which she says perfectly represents where she is in her life and the type of actor she wants to be. āItās so much fun,ā Song gushes. ā[Madison] is such a straight-laced, has blinders on, never stops talking, very type A personality that Iāve never gotten to play.ā Brenda Song
Not only does she feel a deep connection to her role, but she also loves the storyline and creation process behind āDollface.ā The story is about a group of women in their mid-to late-20s that is (refreshingly) written by an actual group of women this age. āTheyāre writing about their livesāthis is not people writing about what they think is happening out there. This is people writing about what they do every day.ā Brenda Song
From defying the monolith with London and embracing the struggle of cultural identity with Wendy to playing an emotionally charged Jennifer and a dry-witted Madison, Song has undoubtedly proven that she goes beyond typecastingāby race or by genre. āIāve been very fortunate with my roles,ā she notes. āIt hasnāt been about my nationality or my ethnicity, and I really appreciate. I definitely believe that both sides of the story need to be told. There’s the story of the struggle of being Asian American. There is also a story about the role of just being a girl in LA…not defined by our culture.ā
Song is looking forward to seeing the industry transform into a more diverse, more inclusive spaceānot just for Asian Americans actress, but for all minorities as well. āMy biggest thing is for the next generation to have something I never had. I want them to be able to seeing themselves on TV, and know that anything is possible,ā she says. Itās important to her that kids feel ārepresented in some way, shape or form.” She wants them to have opportunities and hope.
āItās okay to be down and to be confused about what you want. However, at the end of the day, you have to be honest with yourself. You have to know that you canāt change other peoplesā opinions of you. And itās not up to you!ā she explains.
āIām really proud of my resume, of the actor I am and the person that I am. I know I have a lot of work to do…but Iām proud of the woman I am. I worked really hard to be her.ā Brenda Song
Brenda Song’s recent work includes a guest appearance on the ABC comedy series “Shifting Gears,” reuniting with her “Dollface” co-star Kat Dennings. In the episode, Song’s character, Caitlin, reconnects with Dennings’ character, Riley, at a high school open house. This collaboration showcases Song’s versatility and her continued presence in the television landscape.
Assistant Photographer: Joe Elgar
Styled By: Melissa Souza
Makeup and Hair By: Lexi Kleyla
Born and raised near the Pacific Coast, Jordan Nishkian is a California girl through and through. She graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a BA in Creative Writing and a BA in Anthropology, and her favorite place to be is curled up in a comfy chair with a book in her hand and a pen in her hair.
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