Biography: Brenda Song

Brenda Song (born March 27, 1988^{) is an American actress, model, voice actor, host, and singer. After many television roles and commercials 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 landed a role in the hit Disney Channel Original Series, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, in which she played the 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. Her fame increased after she played the title role in Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior. ^{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, and Song was selected to star in the sequel. To protect her image, she sued a company for the unauthorized use of her photo to promote an escort service. TV Guide listed her in its 2008 "13 Hottest Young Stars to Watch".}

Early life

Song was born in Carmichael, California, a suburb of Sacramento, to a Hmong father and a Thai mother who had been adopted by a Hmong family. ^{Her paternal grandparents were from the Xiong clan but changed their last name to Song when the family immigrated to the United States. Her parents were born in Asia and met as adults in Sacramento. Her father works as a second grade teacher and her mother is a homemaker. She has two younger brothers, Timmy and Nathan.}

When she was six, Song moved with her mother to Los Angeles to support her acting career; the rest of the family followed two years later. Song was named an All-American Scholar in ninth grade. ^{She was homeschooled and earned a high school diploma at age 16, then took courses at a community college and online from the University of California, Berkeley with a major in psychology and a minor in business. She holds a black belt in Taekwondo.}

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. ^{She began acting at age five in a Little Caesars commercial, and then a Barbie commercial. She had a small role in two episodes of the television program Thunder Alley. She was in the 1995 Requiem, an AFI student short film by actress Elizabeth Sung. 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. Following this, she was in another short film directed by Elizabeth Sung called The White Fox. Her theatrical film debut was in Santa with Muscles, a 1996 film starring professional wrestler Hulk Hogan. After a role in Leave It to Beaver (1997), she acted in television beginning with Nickelodeon's 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd (1999). After this she had a number of small parts in series such as 7th Heaven, Judging Amy, 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 movie The Ultimate Christmas Present, which won her the award for "Best Performance in a TV Movie Comedy, Supporting Young Actress". ^{Her 2002 appearance on The Bernie Mac Show led to a nomination for "Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series, Guest Starring Young Actress". In the same year, she was in the family film Like Mike, which grossed over $50 million. 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", it was successful enough to spawn a sequel, although Song was not in it.}

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 movie Stuck in the Suburbs, portraying Natasha Kwon-Schwartz. The TV premiere received 3.7 million viewers. ^{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." That year, Song posed for the cover of Teen People with Get a Clue co-star Lindsay Lohan.}

The Suite Life of Zack and Cody

In 2005, Song got the role of the spoiled heiress London Tipton on Disney Channel's The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. The role was named "Paris" in an early script and is an allusion to "Paris Hilton" (London spoofing Paris, and Tipton is the name of the hotel her father owns in the show). ^{She got the role without an audition, and was surprised to find her friend Ashley Tisdale working in the show. Song says "London is my fantasy person, I wish I could be her. I wish I had her closet." In 2007, the show was the top rated television program among children aged 6 to 11 and was the second top rated television program for children aged 9 to 14. Awards this series earned for Song included a 2007 Young Artist Award for "Best Family Television Series (comedy)", an Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Children's Program", and two Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award nominations for "Favorite TV show" in 2007 and 2008. She also received an Asian Excellence Award nomination for "Outstanding Newcomer".}

After she started on the Suite Life series, Song became a regular on the Disney Channel and had a voice role in Disney's American Dragon: Jake Long series. In 2006, Song had a voice-over role in Holidaze: The Christmas That Almost Didn't Happen, which also featured the voices of fellow Disney stars Cole & Dylan Sprouse and Emily Osment. She later starred in an online series called London Tipton's Yay Me! based on the episode "Tiptonline" on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior

Song's first starring role was in the 2006 Disney Channel Original Movie Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, ^{which had over 5.7 million viewers at its premiere. At first, Wendy Wu was planned to be a comedy but that changed when it became a "star vehicle" for Song. The film was about an average, popular Chinese-American teenager whose life is turned upside down by a visit from a young Chinese monk (Shin Koyamada). The monk claims she is the reincarnation of a powerful female warrior and the only person who can prevent an ancient evil spirit from destroying the world. In a second story line, Wendy and most of her family struggle with keeping their culture and heritage. Song felt she could relate to the message since she knew little about her own people before making the film., saying, "I really identified with Wendy because I don’t want to not know where I came from". To promote the film, she posed for the cover of Seventeen, Teen People, Teen, and several other magazines, and traveled to Malaysia, Singapore, and Costa Rica.}

Following her role in Wendy Wu, Song appeared in the Walt Disney Pictures film College Road Trip with Raven-Symoné and Martin Lawrence. In its opening weekend in March 2008, the film grossed $13.6 million, ranking #2 at the box office, ^{and grossed a total of $45 million in the United States. Although it earned a Teen Choice Award nomination for "choice movie comedy", the acting was panned. A Daily Mail review said the film was "one of those churn-'em-out Disney comedies in which every performer seems to be competing to give the most annoying performance in cinematic history." After being a captain for three years in the Disney Channel Games, she was featured in Studio DC: Almost Live with other Disney stars. Song had a brief cameo in the Disney Channel Original Movie Camp Rock credited as "Girl near lake". She starred in the Lifetime Movie Network telefilm Special Delivery, The film is about bonded courier Maxine (Lisa Edelstein), who is forced to take care of a 14-year old troubled teen, Alice (Song). The Daily Record called it a "likeable comedy".}

She returned as London Tipton in a 2008 Suite Life spin-off called The Suite Life on Deck. ^{The show's premiere on the Disney Channel drew 5.7 million viewers, and it became the most-watched series premiere on Canada's Family channel. In the final quarter of 2008, the show was the second top rated television program among children aged 6 to 11 and was the third top rated television program among tweens. It was also the third top scripted series across all basic cable in total viewers; Disney has ordered a second season for the series.}

A Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior sequel, starring Song and Koyamada, is set to start filming in 2008. ^{Song will star as Paige in a December 2008 animated TV special for NBC, "Macy's Presents Little Spirit: Christmas in New York". The animated TV special is about a friendly New York cab driver (Danny DeVito) who tells a magical story to two sisters (Song and Rachel Shier).}

Song has been represented by the International Creative Management and Richard Konigsberg Management.

Music

See also: Brenda Song discography

Song was part of the Disney Channel Circle of Stars, a group of performers from several different Disney Channel television series. She took part in the recording and music video of a version of "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes". The recording was included on both the special edition Cinderella DVD and on the DisneyMania 4 CD. The album CD was released in April 2005 under the Walt Disney Records label and peaked at #15 on the Billboard 200, and #2 on the Top Kids Audio chart ^{and Top Compilation Albums chart.}

In 2004, Song appeared in Jesse McCartney's music video for "Good Life". Film clips from Stuck in the Suburbs which included Song appeared in music videos for Anneliese van der Pol's song "Over It" and Taran Killam's "More Than Me", "On Top of the World" and "Make a Wish". In 2007, Song filmed a music video for "Open Up Your Eyes" which was featured in her movie, Holidaze. She recorded a song for Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior called "I'm Not That Girl", which aired on Radio Disney and was on the Wendy Wu DVD. In the Suite Life High School Musical themed episode, Song performed "Bop To The Top" and "Really Great". "Really Great" became the theme song for online series London Tipton's Yay Me!. She sang "Bling Is My Favourite Thing" on another Suite Life episode.

Ian Scott wrote and produced demo songs for her. ^{The songs are credited to Mark Jackson Productions, which is associated with Warner Bros. Records.}

Critical reception

Acting

The series The Suite Life of Zack and Cody eventually earned Song a 2007 Young Artist Award for "Best Family Television Series (comedy)", ^{an Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Children's Program", two Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award nominations for "Favorite TV show" in 2007 and 2008, and an Asian Excellence Award nomination for "Outstanding Newcomer".}

For her performance in her first starring role in the 2006 Disney Channel Original Movie Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, Song received positive reviews. UltimateDisney.com called the role "a strong departure from her flaky London Tipton character in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody", adding that Song "shows in this movie that she no longer has to restrict herself to playing the dumb one." ^{Allmovie described Song as a "charming and appealing personality, even when playing a shallow airhead". While commending Disney for the strong Asian cast, a BellaOnline review noted that that it is rare to see a female martial arts star with a black belt. Song did most of her own stunt work for the film with guidance from Koichi Sakamoto, executive producer for the Power Rangers series. Song was inspired to endure the stunt training by the way her mother dealt with breast cancer in 2005. Disney Channel's executive vice president, Gary Marsh called the film "Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" and said of Song: "She's incredibly talented, she's smart. She adds diversity to our network, and she's a real kid."}

Public image

In 2006, Song was hostess for the "A World Of Change" annual charity fashion show to benefit Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services. ^{She supported the 10th Annual L.A. Cancer Challenge, and as part of the Disney Channel Games 2007, Song's team supported the Make-a-Wish Foundation. In 2006 and 2007, she participated in the YMCA Healthy Kids Day in Chicago. She began hosting a Disney special daily segment called Pass the Plate in 2007, in which she helps children and their families learn more about nutrition and healthy food. The series is produced in ten countries in association with Disney Channel. In 2006, a series of articles by Scholastic included facts about Song and mathematical guidance from her. The first article in the series was "Maths Spotlight on... Brenda Song".}

According to Time, Song is one of the three Disney starlets who have not been involved in the Hollywood party girl scene, along with Hilary Duff and Raven-Symoné. Asiance Magazine calls her a "great role model" for young girls. ^{She said in 2005: "Besides Hollywood grand-openings and award shows, I try to stay away from the parties. It’s so easy to be swept away from that whole scene because it’s expected of you. I’ve never drank or smoked in my entire life, but I’ve seen 15-year-olds drinking and smoking and I just think that’s gross."}

Song ranked ninth in Netscape's 2007 "Top 10 Pretty Petites in Entertainment", ^{was voted one of AOL's "Top 20 Tween (and Teen) TV Stars", and was ranked #3 on Maxim's Asian Hot 100 of 2008 list. TV Guide listed her in its 2008 list of "13 Hottest Young Stars to Watch".}

Lawsuit

On April 18, 2008, a picture of Song was used in an ad for an escort agency in the back of that week's LA Weekly. Disney lawyers were not pleased with the use of Song's copyrighted image for advertising adult activities. A rep from Disney told TMZ: "This is an unauthorized use of Brenda Song's image and her personal attorney has issued a cease and desist to the advertiser." ^{Song filed a libel suit against the Vibe Media Inc. seeking at least $100,000 in damages. Song said: "As a role model to millions of young people, I feel I have to take a stand against this company in regard to its exploitation of my image."}

The photo used in the ad was taken when Song was 16 years old. Song's attorney later found that an individual, and not Vibe Media, was responsible for the use of Song's photo. He told Back Stage:

I'm not sure if they were trying to just find a picture of a pretty girl or an Asian-looking girl or whether they expected that Brenda would be recognized.... Brenda's demographic is a lot different from what I would suppose the clients of this business are. If you're the sort of person who would use the services of a business like this, it is quite possible that you have never heard of Brenda Song.

Song's attorney said that it may be hard to show how much the misuse of the photo hurt her career, but that a lawsuit was needed. "Brenda's public image is very important to her. Brenda has been careful to not accept roles that would taint her in the way that some other young actors have been."

Filmography

Films

Television

Online series at Disney.com

Guest appearances

Awards and nominations

References

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4. ^ Stacy Jenel Smith (November 19, 2007). "Rising Star: Brenda Song Shows Off Chops in 'Wendy Wu'". Netscape Celebrity. Accessed 2008-12-11.
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