Brenda Song

Brenda Song (born March 27, 1988) is an American actress, model, voice actor, host, and singer. Song started in show business as a child fashion model. After many commercials and television roles during the late 1990s, Song won a Young Artist Award for her work in The Ultimate Christmas Present (2000). She went on to appear in feature films aimed at teens, including Like Mike (2002) and College Road Trip (2008). Her movies on the Disney Channel include Get a Clue (2002) and Stuck in the Suburbs (2004).

In 2005, Song was selected for a role in the Disney Channel Original Series, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, in which she played hotel heiress London Tipton. Song earned an Asian Excellence Award nomination for her part in the series. In addition to portraying the character, which she continues in The Suite Life on Deck, Song started a music career in 2005 as part of the Disney Channel Circle of Stars. The Suite Life series is one of Disney Channel's most successful and top rated series.

Her fame increased after she played the title role in Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior.^[3][4] Song connected emotionally with the lead character struggling to keep her heritage. The film was one of the top rated Disney Channel Original Movies with over 5.7 million viewers on the night of its premiere,^[5] and Song was selected to star in the sequel. Song is set to star in Boogie Town, which is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2009.^[6] TV Guide listed her in its 2008 "13 Hottest Young Stars to Watch".^[7]

Acting

Early work

Song started in show business as a child fashion model in San Francisco after being spotted in a shopping mall by an agent from a modeling school.^[10] She began acting at age five or six in a Little Caesars commercial,^[2][11] and then a Barbie commercial.^[2] She had a small role in two episodes of the television program Thunder Alley. She also had a small role on Fudge, where she played Jenny. She was in the 1995 Requiem, an AFI student short film by actress Elizabeth Sung. "She came in confident [at the auditions]. She was very focused, and it was very obvious that she loved what she was doing," said Sung.^[8] The seven-year-old Song played a young version of "Fong", who is portrayed as an adult by Tamlyn Tomita. The film won a CINE Golden Eagle award.^[12]

Following this, she was in another short film directed by Elizabeth Sung called The White Fox.^[1] Her theatrical film debut was in Santa with Muscles, a 1996 independent film starring professional wrestler Hulk Hogan. After a small role in Leave It to Beaver (1997), she acted in television, appearing in Nickelodeon's 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd (1999) as Sariffa Chung. After this she had a number of small parts in series such as 7th Heaven, Judging Amy, ER, Once and Again and Bette, where she met Ashley Tisdale.

Two of Song's early roles led to recognition in the Young Artist Awards. She starred in the 2000 Disney Channel Original Movie The Ultimate Christmas Present, which won her the award for "Best Performance in a TV Movie Comedy, Supporting Young Actress".^[13] Her 2002 appearance on The Bernie Mac Show led to a nomination for "Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series, Guest Starring Young Actress".^[14] In the same year, she was in the family film Like Mike, which grossed over $50 million.^[15] The film stars rapper Bow Wow as an orphan who can suddenly play NBA-level basketball. Song plays the character Reg Stevens. Although the film was criticized for its "frightening myths about adoption",^[16] it was successful enough to spawn a sequel, although Song was not in it.

In 2002, Song signed a contract with Disney.^[8] After 2002, Song continued to make guest appearances in Disney Channel shows such as That's So Raven, and play minor roles in many American sitcoms. She appeared in Get a Clue in 2002, which was the first Disney Channel Original Movie to receive over one million viewers. She played a recurring role as Tia in the Disney Channel's Phil of the Future, appearing in seven episodes in 2004 and 2005. In late 2004, Song co-starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie Stuck in the Suburbs, portraying Natasha Kwon-Schwartz.^[17] The TV premiere received 3.7 million viewers.^[18] She said later: "When Stuck came out it was crazy 'cause we went to Six Flags and we were there and so many kids recognized us from Stuck in the Suburbs, I'm like wow that movie must have done really well."^[19] That year, Song posed for the cover of Teen People with Get a Clue co-star Lindsay Lohan.