5 Surprising Facts About Brenda Song
The actor became a child star thanks to her role on the show Suite Life. She's making a comeback now, after considering retiring, in a new Netflix series.
Brenda Song is no stranger to the silver screen. After all, the reached fame as a child actor. Now, however, the 37-year-old is making a comeback in Hollywood with some more mature projects.
The actor began her career over two decades ago in commercials before landing her breakthrough role with Disney Channel in 2002. That year, she starred alongside fellow former child star Lindsay Lohan in Get a Clue and made guest appearances on various Disney sitcoms. In 2005, she secured her most iconic role as spoiled hotel heiress London Tipton—a parody of Paris Hilton—on TV show The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. She later reprised the role in the spinoff The Suite Life on Deck and The Suite Life Movie. Most recently, she lent her voice to the animated series Amphibia, which wrapped in 2022 and The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.
Song gradually transitioned from her Disney days to mainstream success with roles in The Social Network and recurring appearances on Scandal and New Girl. Though she continued with occasional voice work and smaller roles, a lack of opportunities in 2023 led her to consider retirement. However, after restructuring her management team, she refocused on more serious roles. Last year, she portrayed a showgirl in Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl, and now she stars alongside Kate Hudson in Netflix’s hit series Running Point.
The 37-year-old actor has had a sort of career renaissance of late. Keep scrolling to get to know her better and read surprising facts about Song, from her career endeavors to details on her love life.
She got early acceptance to Harvard at age 15... and declined it.
At just 15 years old, Song gained admission to Harvard, her dream school, but she declined the offer after her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Around the same time, Song was offered a role on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, and with her father's encouragement, she chose to pursue acting instead.
“My dad, who’s a schoolteacher, sat me down and said, ‘Here’s the thing. You have an amazing opportunity, if acting is what you want to do. Education is the most important thing. You go to college to figure out what you want to do, but if this is what you want to do, you have an opportunity to do it,” she said in an interview with W Magazine.
She was once briefly engaged to Trace Cyrus, Miley Cyrus’ brother.
Before finding love with fiancé Macaulay Culkin, Song was briefly engaged to musician Trace Cyrus after nearly a decade of an on-and-off romance. The two went their separate ways in 2017.
She’s an avid sports fan.
The California native has an unwavering passion for Los Angeles sports, especially the Lakers. Her memorabilia collection includes a personalized Lakers championship ring and a signed Kobe Bryant jersey. During her time filming The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, she kept a life-size cutout of Bryant on set and even had the production team install a screen so she wouldn’t miss a game. Recently, she has been spotted courtside alongside fiancé Macaulay Culkin (who is Kieran Culkin's younger brother.)
She first met Macaulay Culkin at actor Seth Green’s house.
Song’s first time meeting Culkin wasn’t exactly love at first sight. She'd just come off the disappointment of a cancellation with the short-lived series Dad when she met him at Seth Green's house in 2014. Culkin happened to be staying at his house at the time and jokingly tried to make light of Song's misfortune, but she didn't take kindly to it.
The two actors reunited three years later to co-star in Green's directorial debut Changeland, but Song wasn't looking for anything serious at the time. Despite that, they got closer after spending time together behind the scenes and started dating the same year. Song and Culkin got engaged in January 2022 and have two children together.
She considered retiring in 2023.
Although she seems to be everywhere now, Song was contemplating retirement just two years ago amid what she called a “career slump.” “I said to my partner, ‘If the best years are behind me, I’m [okay] with that because I’ve had these amazing adventures,’ she told The Hollywood Reporter.
Rather than stepping away from the industry, Song took charge of her career, parting ways with her longtime managers of over twenty years and signing with Emily Gerson Saines, who also represents Culkin and his younger brother, Kieran. Shortly after, she secured a role in The Last Showgirl and her current part in the Netflix series Running Point.
